Key to His Pandora Box
by Soul Empress
Summary: She was the first person to master misdirection and the first to foresee the change in the Generation of Miracles. Now enrolled in Rakuzan, hoping to forget everything she left behind in middle school, but fate has other ideas when she meets the last person she wanted to meet.
1. Chapter 1 Akashi Seijuurou

Hello, this is my first published chapter on Fanfiction and I would try to update every week. I hope you enjoy the story. Please send me your reviews and suggestions for my following chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basket, I only own the OCs and this story.

* * *

Key to His Pandora Box

Chapter One: Akashi Seijuurou

It was the opening ceremony for Rakuzan High School in Kyoto, and masses of students filed past the school gates. Within the group of first years was an unnoticed figure, her long silky black hair fluttered like a silk shawl trailering behind her smoothly. People walking past her turned to follow her cleansing jasmine scent, their eyes followed the fragrance but could never see the owner of the light perfume. Her deep sapphire eyes was set forward as she walked in a perfect, straight line.

Weaving her way through the people, she made her way to a giant noticeboard displaying the rolls for the different forms the first years will be in for the rest of the year. Her sapphire orbs scanned the pinned papers with inhumane speed, and finally she spotted her name on the class list:

Class 1-D

片岡秋里 Kataoka Akiri

Her face was kept blank, she lowered her head and allowed her long raven bangs to cover her eyes. Eyes down and unseen, she slowly made her way to the hall where the entrance ceremony was going to be held.

Kataoka heard approaching footsteps growing louder and louder behind her. She turned around and her long black hair swirled at her sudden movement. Her blue eyes met a male redhead's heterochromatic eyes of ruby-red and topaz-yellow. Blue eyes widening at the eye contact, Kataoka turned away as the redheaded boy smirked.

Filing into the large school hall, students took their places at their destined class spots. Kataoka's eyes caught the sight of the board with '1-D' written on it and quickly made her way to the board, lining up along with her classmates. Surprisingly, the boy followed her and lined up behind her. _So he is a first year and is in my class…. I think I know him from somewhere…._Kataoka thought as she spied a look behind her to see the boy standing at about 173cm with his heterochromatic eyes betraying no emotion staring forwards. The principal soon came up onto the stage, after a long boring speech, he dismissed the students and Kataoka followed her teacher into their classroom.

* * *

Her home group teacher was Takayama-sensei, he had a serious face with a pair of grey eyes with blue-rimmed glasses sitting on his tall, straight nose. He was a tall man, well dressed in a white t-shirt, black tie and straight black pants. Takayama-sensei also had a tendency to push his glasses to the bridge of his nose by his index finger when speaking, making him look smart and self-important. Takayama-sensei looked like a ballet dance with his slim figure and graceful movements. His voice was a monotone and his handsome face was constantly solemn, especially today when he was calling out the roll in their allocated classroom.

"Akashi Seijuurou-san?" He said glancing up from his glasses as he waited for a reply.

"Present." The boy with the red hair and mismatched red and golden eyes replied, his tone was cool and betrayed nothing. Students immediately started talking once they saw who the name belonged to. Kataoka felt as if she was stung by a million wasps all at once when she heard the name. _Akashi Seijuurou…_she cursed, now she remembered_. _She was completely unaware of the other students' chatters as she faded into her thoughts.

"_Akashi Seijuurou? Wasn't he the famous Teikou's basketball team's captain?"_

"_Kyaa~ Akashi-kun is so handsome~"_

"_He is one of the five of the famous basketball players of Teikou, the best of the century: Generation of Miracles."_

"_He looks a bit too short to be a basketball player."_

"_Apparently he was really popular back in Teikou."_

"_He became a captain of the Teikou Middle School basketball team even though he was a first year."_

"_Is he going to be the captain of Rakuzan's team too?"_

"_Apparently he is the heir of a really big company and is good at practically everything." _

Takayama-sensei quickly ushered the students to calm down and continued to tick the roll.

"Takagi Youta-san?"

"Present." After a few other name calls, Takayama-sensei spoke the name of a girl who was often whispered about in the staff rooms.

"Kataoka Akiri-san?" The room was silent for a while and the girl slowly put her hand up.

"Present." She spoke softly-almost murmuring as she stared down at her desk. The boy sitting in front of her whom she knew as Yoshida Kintarou whipped around and gaped at her.

"No way, you are Kataoka Akiri-Korowa Middle School's White Rose?" He asked with astonishment.

"Well, that was what others called me but I did attend Korowa Middle School and my name is Kataoka Akiri." She stated quietly with a flat tone.

"Wait," this other boy sitting near the front whispered, "who is Kataoka Akiri the White Rose anyway?" He asked, clearly confused, his friend answered, whispering and glancing back at Kataoka.

"_Apparently she was the prettiest girl in Korowa Middle School, the school's 'flower.' She is smart, really good at kendo and excels at traditional Japanese arts. She made her debut as a model in middle school, but she quit in the third year of middle school, just when she started to get popular." _

"_Wow, now that I looked at her, she really is a beauty isn't she?"_

"_She just looks like a doll to me."_

"_How could we not have noticed her earlier?"_

"_She is really pretty."_

The comments bounced around in the room and Kataoka felt more and more unnerved at each remark. She was so concentrated in her thoughts, she failed to notice a serious pair of heterochromatic eyes smothering over her with something close to curiosity.

"Silence!" Takayama-sensei had given up quietening the class by 'civilised means' and now he slammed his palm on the desk. Thoroughly fed up.

"Now…"

* * *

As soon as class finished, a group of people swarmed up to Kataoka and Akashi. As Kataoka was not easily noticed- a trait from her mother's family, she was able to escape the group of people quiet easily. Akashi was less fortunate, but his intimidating air made the students give him at least a one metre check.

As soon as she saw students walking up to her, Kataoka ran out the room with her lunch box and her book in tow up onto the roof. No one was present and it was a relief for the girl as she took her spot in the shadows by the walls and opened her bento box, checking her mail on her phone in the process.

_To: Kiri-chan_

_Hey Kiri-chan!_

_Kii-chan told me that you are going to Rakuzan, congrats in getting in to the school! How is it? This means that you would only come back to Tokyo on the weekend right? Maybe only on the holidays as you are such a studious student. _

_About Rakuzan, Akashi is in the school too so look out for him. He demands absolute authority otherwise he will snap! _

_-Satsuki _

_To: Momoi-san_

_Hello Momoi-san,_

_Today is the first day so I am not too sure about my feelings to the school. I do not think I would get a smooth ride though as some students here already knew about me. I am also in the same class as Akashi-kun. He was stranger from what I have expected and looked quite intimidating._

_-Akiri_

Kataoka sighed as she snapped shut the screen of her white phone and took the final bite from her onigiri. She laid against the cold wall in the shadows and after a while she stood up and left the roof. For the first time, she doesn't feel like reading. Kataoka climbed down the white polished stairs and kept her eyes beneath the wavy bangs with a lowered head.

Purposeful approaching steps started from the bottom of the staircase. Assuring herself that she won't be seen, Kataoka casually stepped down. The person's taps on the stairs grew louder and louder, sounding more and more intimidating, as if forcing Kataoka to look at him.

Drawn to this sudden intimidating and regal air, Kataoka looked up just in time to see Akashi walking past her. His calm heterochromatic eyes of red and gold never left her sapphire bewildered ones as he climbed up the stairs. His pose was natural as the redhead entered the roof.

Kataoka leaned against the railing of the staircase, breathing hard. _He…he saw me and he was looking at me? _Kataoka clung hard onto the railing. No, she must get a grip on herself, that Akashi, is dangerous.

* * *

Akashi was satisfied when the black limo waited for him at the allocated part of the street instead of next to the school gates. He preferred to avoid attention and not to ride in a limo when possible. It is unfortunate though that his father had made sure that Akashi's driver sent him to and from school. With a nod to the driver sitting at the front, Akashi opened the back door and sat on the padded seats. Peering through the obsidian windows that hid him from the eyes of commoners with impersonal interest, his eyes caught the sight of a girl with hip-length ink-like black hair in Rakuzan uniform, _Kataoka Akiri…_Akashi thought as he inspected the girl through the shaded windows, _what a peculiar girl. _

With her school bag slung loosely on her narrow shoulders, the straps held with her right hand while her left hand was holding a book at a height that was in-line with her eyes, reading as she walked. The limousine soon drove past the Kataoka and Akashi turned away from the windows to sit straight and properly on the luxurious seats.

The car soon glided to a temporary halted in front of a large metallic gate as the sliding gates slowly opened, allowing the vehicle to pass through. Up ahead of the black limo, a water fountain was spewing crystal clear water through the fishes' mouths. A garden widened into view and two tall apartment buildings came after the trimmed green grass.

Akashi departed from his black limo the moment his chauffeur parked the car and walked briskly to the front door with his chauffeur following after him

"Seijuurou-sama," the middle-aged chauffer suggested blandly as the two entered the building, "this afternoon's weather is not very fine, I suggest it is best for Seijuurou-sama to not horse ride this afternoon."

Akashi gave his servant a glance, "That shall be noted," he replied as he walked off, removing his school blazer elegantly and tossed it on a hook.

* * *

Shirahime tossed her snowy mane as her rider murmured gently to the white ears and the mare broke into a trot.

"There is this girl in our class who reminds me of a boy whom I knew in middle school. She seems different from most people and seems to see things calculatedly." The young master stroked the white silky mane absent-mindedly as he spoke to his horse. "I also feel as if I have seen her before and the other me knew her."

The mare turned her large brown eyes affectionately to her stern master and gazed at him, looking as if she was listening. Her rider narrowed his heterochromatic eyes and nodded as he patted the horse's behinds and Shirahime galloped in the open space.

* * *

Up in the shadows within the privacy of his bedroom, Akashi smiled as he moved one of the shogi pieces on the board. Today he had spoken with the Rakuzan basketball coach Shirogane Eiji and the coach gave the title of the basketball team's captain to him-exactly like his promise during the scouting.

Standing by his bed, Akashi loosened his straight black tie. With one swift motion, the tie slipped from his shirt and dropped by his feet. Akashi then unbuttoned his shirt, revealing the white singlet beneath. He sat down against his bed and looked outside the uncurtained windows, moonlight shining on his handsome face and became lost in his own thoughts.

A gentle knocking ceased the redhead's thoughts. His mismatched eyes of ruby red and topaz yellow turned to the door. "Come in." He ordered powerfully. The door opened without a creak and revealed his maid.

"Seijuurou-sama, your afternoon tea is ready." The sharp woman in her thirties kept her hair bowed, repeating the daily routine.

"Thank you Meirin-san, please bring it to the study, I shall be there in a few minutes." Akashi answered. The door closed, whipped off his grey school shirt and changed into a plain blue tee and straight dark jeans. He opened his door swiftly, hands in his pockets as he walked down the polished wooden stairs to his study.

His acute sense of smell caught the aroma of tofu soup as he entered the unattended study. His favourite bowl of tofu soup and exquisitely made rice crackers placed neatly on the creaming. Akashi seated himself carefully into a black office chair and held his black polished bamboo chopsticks elegantly in his long pale fingers, drilled by years of playing basketball.

As Akashi raised the bowl of soup to his poised lips, and sipped the warm liquid slowly and carefully, the door knocked again. A pale hand gently placed the bowl back on the creamy desk.

"Come in." The ordering tone was laced with ice that cooled the room. The door was opened carefully, Akashi didn't even turn around.

"Seijuurou-sama, your father called." The voice was deep and monotone-his chauffeur, Akashi extended a hand and he felt the warm object slip into his hands. The master of the house turned and gave his middle-aged servant a small nod before bringing the phone to his ear.

"Hello Father."

"Good afternoon Seijuurou, how is Rakuzan?" Came Akashi's father's deep voice through the electronic object.

"It is fine Father, the facilities are excellent, the teachers are professionally trained and the school in all areas are rather successful." Akashi answered, his voice revealing nothing.

"That is good Seijuurou, also," his father added, "There is this party that will be held in Kyoto hosted by the Umei family on the 6th of May from six pm until twelve in their mansion. I have also been invited but I cannot attend the party so you must attend the party in my place. Make sure you display no flaws Seijuurou." Akashi's father commanded.

"Yes Father," was the answer the president of the Akashi Company received.

"I will call you against Seijuurou, goodbye."

"Goodbye Father."

The man hung up and placed the phone back on his desk and smiled.

"Good Seijuurou," he said.

* * *

Akashi soon became the student council president without a proper election—it was just a given. And other students soon entered the council and Akashi assessed their skills before putting them in their suitable positions. He no longer became just a mere captain of the Rakuzan High School team or former captain of the Generation of Miracles, he also became Kaichou, the first first-year Rakuzan High student council president.

Every day, Akashi would go to school early in the morning to the student council room and check if there were anything left for him to do. If there was nothing to do, he would play shogi by himself until the warning bell rings and then he would go to his classroom, ready for home group and the start of school.


	2. Chapter 2 Rakuzan Basketball Club

Chapter Two Rakuzan Basketball Club & After Training Meetings

Hello readers, I am not sure if this is how the players are really like this but please drop a few comments or criticisms. Unfortunately my grammar is not very good so please forgive me.

* * *

A pair of cool dark eyes glanced over the piece of official-looking paper. "Kataoka Akiri huh?" The man muttered to himself before writing 'Working as a temporary manager for the basketball team.' 'Signed: Shirogane Eiji.'

* * *

"Shirogane-sensei have called for me to be the manager for the basketball team, how can I help?" The girl with long dark locks asked with a deadpanned voice to the cold basketball coach.

"At the moment the team just needs a keen observer, Akashi-kun is already doing enough but with the other Generation of Miracles, it probably isn't enough. I just Kataoka-san to be there when the team and Akashi-kun needs support and train the team to win the basketball competitions. You don't have to always come to training as you are only a fill-in so you will get your break if you request it or if some other teacher or club requests for help. Is that okay with you?" Shirogane-sensei asked.

"I am fine with that, I will try my best to be the manager for Rakuzan's basketball team." The girl answered with a bow, her long bangs hid her eyes full of emotion.

* * *

The good-looking second year as well as the shooting guard of Rakuzan basketball team hummed to himself as he entered the gym. He was in a good mood as he tugged at his chin-length black hair and sat down on the benches. Suddenly, something appeared at the corner of his eye and it quickly caught the sight of a girl with long flowing black hair tied up in a high ponytail made him go off-tune.

"Whoa, whoa, where did you come from?" He greeted the petite first year with a jump.

"I was here for a while now and only approached Senpai to greet him." The girl answered flatly and peered down at the navy clip board held in her hand before looking up at him judgingly.

"Senpai, you are Mibuchi Reo the shooting guard right?" She asked with no hint of question in her words.

"Yeah, I am Reo alright, and what is your name young miss?" Mibuchi asked with a smile.

"My name is Kataoka, Kataoka Akiri." The girl answered.

"Then what are you doing here? Did the coach made you the manager?" He asked thoughtfully.

"No, Shirogane-sensei only asked me to help out at the basketball club as I am part of the staff-assistance committee." Kataoka answered as she walked away, disappearing in the process.

Soon, the small forward-Hayama Kotarou made his energetic entrance.

"Reo-nee!" He greeted loudly as soon as he saw the tall shooter tying the shoelace of his basketball shoes.

"Jeez Hayama, you are too loud." Mibuchi complained to the skinny, orange-haired boy.

Suddenly, the small forward's keen animal senses felt the presence of an approaching figure and turned around to face the girl with a porcelain-white face framed by dark raven bangs.

"Arghh!" Hayama couldn't help but scream.

"Oh Kataoka-chan!" Mibuchi smiled charmingly at the stoic girl, Kataoka gave her senpai a nod and then turned to Hayama.

"Senpai must be Hayama Kotarou right? The small forward?" She asked flatly.

"Yes, yes, I am Hayama Kotarou!" The said boy replied with such an energetic tone it was annoying.

"Thank you," the girl made a small tick on her board and walked away, "also," she added with a turn, "as it is rude to ask someone else's name without giving mine-my name is Kataoka Akiri." As soon as those words were spoken she disappeared, with Hayama gaping.

Soon, the buffy centre, Nebuya Eikichi ran into the room wolfing down a large meat roll and felt the brush of someone's school blouse against his elbow before turning.

"Huh?" He turned and saw a delicate freshmen holding a clipboard in her slim fingers, a shiver went down his spine as he watched the girl peering at her clipboard. _Where the heck did she appear from?_ Nebuya thought to himself.

"Senpai is…" she squinted at the name roll and thought for a second, "Nebuya Eikichi, the centre right?" She asked.

"Yeah," was the muffled reply from the large basketball player with his mouthful of bread and meat. After ticking Nebuya's name on the roll, she advanced towards the other players.

Akashi soon turned up with the coach, he didn't even blink when he saw Kataoka and the practice commenced with the girl taking notes nonstop by the benches. Her face was impassive as she followed the coach around the court, scribbling things down quickly on the clipboard. Once in a while, Kataoka would ask the coach a question and he would answer coldly in the most indirect way possible. Once the drilling practice was over, the coach, Shirogane Eiji called the players forward and discussed with them the upcoming practice matches. Akashi would drop a few cents once in a while and Kataoka just stood behind the other players, hiding herself as well as possible as she continued to write down notes. She felt a little queasy when she felt a certain pair of heterochromatic eyes staring at her but she swallowed the feeling down and continued to write.

* * *

After basketball practice, school president Akashi Seijuurou quickly sorted the paper in front of him. His father's words about doing well in his studies and extracurricular activities echoed in his head as he pushed himself to finish the final pile. It was already pretty dark and Akashi's stomach was complaining nonstop as he read the pages one after another, checking the grammar and spelling as he signed his name in black: Akashi Seijuurou on the white paper.

The door slid open quietly and Akashi shot a glance above the paper: it was Kataoka holding a bowl of perfectly made tofu soup in her slim fingers. His eyes narrowed as he stared suspiciously at the rather innocent-looking soup.

"Tanaka-sensei was worried about Akashi-san so she asked me to check on Akashi-san." The girl explained as she gently placed the bowl in front of the sharp president.

"Please, eat Akashi-san. By Akashi-san's state I am guessing Akashi-san haven't had dinner yet right? I do not know if Akashi-san likes tofu soup but this was the only thing I could come up with while I tried to think of a food Akashi-san might like." The redhead gave the bowl of soup a judging glance and then lifted it up to his lips and took a controlled sip-it was delicious.

While Akashi was eating, Kataoka took a quick glance at the already completed pile of papers and slowly shooked her head as she read a letter. The president placed the bowl down on his desk and frowned at the shook of the girl's head.

"Did I do something wrong Kataoka-san?" He asked calmly.

"Yes, Akashi-san's letter was a little bit too forceful." A silent glare was given as a response.

"Although Akashi-san is the captain of the basketball team and the school president even though Akashi-san is a first year. It is necessary to be aware of the other upperclassmen's feelings when they read a letter addressed to them by a lowerclassmen. There still needs to be some sort of respect. However, grammatically speaking, there was not a single mistake made and the language was quite persuasive, it just lacks the respect." The girl placed the paper back on the desk and retrieved the bowl.

"Now if there is nothing else, I shall take my leave then Akashi-san." The girl bowed politely and was about to walk off with the bowl when a strong, muscular hand grabbed her skinny wrist.

"Wait," Akashi demanded, "if Kataoka-san believed that my letter was too forceful and impolite then I would like Kataoka-san to do the honour of writing it." Kataoka nodded as she retrieved the writing utensils, and soon the sound of scribbles of pen on paper filled the room. Akashi glanced down at the paper as the girl wrote the words confidently and neatly, she utilised her words well and had a good understanding of the Japanese language. Akashi was impressed at the amount of control the girl had as she handed him the letter and waited for his answer. After a long pause, the president majestically placed the paper back on the creamy desk.

"It was good," he answered after a while, "please give this to Tanaka-sensei and ask her to type it up on her computer and print out twenty copies of it." The girl nodded and was about to head off when Akashi stopped her again. "Also," he added, "come back afterwards."

There was no reaction from the girl as the door opened and slid shut, whispering of the leave of the girl.

* * *

"How well do you think our players have progressed so far Kataoka?" Shirogane-sensei asked as he looked down at the petite girl with her long dark hair in a tall ponytail during practice.

"Undoubtedly, Akashi-san is the strongest and I have seen an improvement in skill for the past three weeks, probably about twenty-three percent. Same goes for the other three players although their improvement is smaller, probably only about ten percent. Mazuyumi-senpai virtually made no improvement, at the most is probably just three percent." The coach nodded, extremely impressed as he looked down at the notes clipped on her clipboard and his eyes widened by a fraction.

"Your notes Kataoka," the coach began, "are highly complicated and professional, are there any members of your family who is a sports trainer?" He asked.

"My aunty is a physician and a sports trainer and I would often spend time with her during the holidays while she looked at athletes with injuries and so on. Also, when I was in primary school, I had a friend…" the girl paused, "he really liked basketball and I would watch him play afterschool while I read. I did not like basketball that much so I got a little bored as I watched him so I began to do all sorts of experiments like timing him and graphing his improvements and so on…I was probably able to do these sort of graphing by observing him." Kataoka finished her explanation as she quickly scribbled something down, her eyes glinting like steel. The coach nodded and put his attention back into the practice.

Kataoka quickly handed the players towels after practice before running hurriedly out the gym, her clipboard left by the benches. Once all the first-stringers have left, Akashi was about to lock the gym when he noticed a blue clipboard on the benches. He immediately recognised it as the one Kataoka always carried to practices and was curious as to what was hidden in the clipboard.

His long, pale fingers flipped open the clipboard and saw charts showing all of the first-stringers' improvement and level of skill. Akashi was amused when he noticed that she had measured each essential qualities by numbers out of ten and was bemused when he noticed that he received a nine out of ten for physical abilities instead of ten.

_She will be a good permanent manager…_Akashi thought to himself as he tidied the pile of notes and shut the clipboard. He brushed strands of blazing red hair from his pale, handsome face and made his way to the exit of the gym with a solemn face when he noticed a figure standing there and stopped. It was Kataoka Akiri, and look of mortal pain flashed across her face before changing into her usual emotionless mask.

She lowered her gaze and stared at the polished floorboards as she quickly retrieved the clipboard. Kataoka was about to run out of the gym when a hand grabbed her skinny wrist.

"Stop." Akashi ordered, the girl turned, all display of the emotion before was kept shut under a glassy sheen.

"How can I help you Akashi-san?" The redhead released Kataoka's wrist from his grasp and stepped intimately close until her face was only millimetres away from his neck.

"Shirogane-sensei told me that you were doing staff-assistance and he picked you to help out for the basketball team." The girl nodded as a reply.

"The coach have told me for a while that he would've liked you to be the team's manager and I think the job would suit you too. Kataoka I would like you to be the team's manager." It was an order, there was no question and no other option as the girl turned away dismissively.

"Please let me think about it first, I do not like basketball very much so it would take me time for me to decide." She answered.

"How long do you need?" Akashi asked, the girl turned to face him and he could spot the steel in her usual innocent eyes, her usual sapphire eyes darkened to a colour of midnight.

"Until…until I can get used to or can't stand listening to the dribbling of the basketball…the squeak of the basketball shoes…the swish of the nets…the voice calling out for a rebound...until I have given up."

* * *

_Until…until I can get used to or can't stand listening to the dribbling of the basketball…the squeak of the basketball shoes…the swish of the nets…the voice calling out for a rebound until I have given up_…_what did that girl mean?_ Akashi thought to himself as his tie fell to the floor in one smooth glide of his pale fingers in the student council room the next day. He mentally shrugged as he thought about the object of prime importance,_ if she is planning to drag on and on with her decision about becoming the manager of the team though, then I shall be very cross with her. _Akashi's golden eye glittered at the thought of that as he sat back in his black leather chair in the silent student council room and moved a few more shogi pieces on the board.


	3. Chapter 3 The Weeping Violin

Chapter Three The Weeping Violin

Akashi swiftly hauled his school bag onto his shoulder and checked the time: seven-thirty, he would be a bit late today, he thought as he walked past the music rooms. None of the lights within the room was light but as Akashi walked past, he could hear the gentle tune of a violin. He stopped, it was unlike any other music he had ever heard. Akashi stood there in front of the door, unsure whether he should continue to listen and find out who the violinist is or go home. The curiosity got the better of him and soon he found himself gently pushing the door to allow him to see the petite figure standing in the shaded room, her undeveloped hips gently swaying to the movement of slim pale arms.

Blue-black hair was tied in a loose bun held in place by a silver hairpin as her pale cheeks rested against the creamy violin. A serene expression was on her face as she played with her eyes closed, beneath the rare rays of moonlight, she looked like an angel. The gentle piece slowly became melancholy and more depressing as the bow glided over the strings skilfully. It felt as if she was describing someone dying as she lengthened the notes.

Akashi noticed the shine beneath her eyelids as the story became more and more depressing, until visible tears were rolling off the girl's cheeks. The bow ceased to glide and the girl rested her violin against her knees before sitting down with her chin resting against her knees and sobbed. Akashi decided to leave when he realised the girl was probably going to notice him soon.

Kataoka's sapphire orbs turned to the doorway where a slit of light was allowed to pass through, her eyes narrowed, she was sure she had closed the door properly when she came in to practice. Something at the back of her mind was nagging that someone was listening but she decided to shrug it off before packing up her stuff.

The school was empty when Kataoka entered the shoes locker drowned in her thoughts as she changed her shoes and walked out of the school grounds with her head hung low.

* * *

That night's dinner was curry from the can and green tea, obviously eaten alone as Kataoka lives alone in her own student apartments leased by the school. Once she took a shower Kataoka changed into her sleeping yukata and was sitting by the low-set table doing her homework when a knock came firmly from the door. She stood up gracefully and paced silently to the door before opening it. Her dark eyebrows rose by a fraction when she saw her classmate Umei Hiromi standing by the door.

"Good evening Umei-san, how can I help you?" Kataoka asked in a quiet voice.

"Well…um…we are sharing an apartment, didn't Tazawa-sensei tell you?" Umei asked.

"No she didn't but come in Umei-san. Please drop your things by the door and I shall take you to your bedroom." Kataoka made a gesture to the taller girl with long chestnut hair to follow behind her.

"Thankyou Aki-chan." Somehow, Umei decided to address Kataoka differently the minute she entered her bedroom.

"Has Umei-san have dinner yet? There was a bit of leftover chicken curry, would Umei-san like some?" Kataoka asked as she left her roommate's room and entered the kitchen, the metal spoon poised over the small pot.

"Yes please Aki-chan!" Umei answered before coming out of her room in a pair of grey-blue pyjamas printed with yellow duckies and her hair looped up into a loose bun held into place by a black hair clip. She sat down by the lowly set table and glanced at the homework sheets.

"Wow Aki-chan you are really smart, is math your favourite subject?" Umei asked from the dining room. Kataoka carefully tipped a ladle full of curry into the white china plate and quietly entered the dining room.

"No, math is not my favourite subject. My favourite subjects are Japanese, foreign languages, history and calligraphy. I also enjoy reading ancient texts." Kataoka answered as she gently placed the white plate in front of the smiling girl.

"Ittadakimasu!" Umei said as she held her chopsticks in her hand and tucked in.

"Oh yeah Aki-chan," Umei began upon seeing Kataoka doing her homework, whizzing through the pages speedily.

"Yes Umei-san, what is the matter?" Kataoka asked, glancing over the paper.

"Can you tutor me?" Umei asked with a happy-go-lucky expression. Kataoka sighed.

"I will but I am not lenient, especially since you are not very smart Umei-san." Kataoka answered as her eyes went back onto the paper.

"You are so mean Aki-chan…" Umei complained and Kataoka didn't answer her as she brought out a book she was reading earlier and started to read. Upon seeing the empty plate, Kataoka looked up.

"Would Umei-san like to have seconds?" Kataoka asked.

"No thanks."

"Would Umei-san like something to drink?"

"Yes…do you have hot chocolate?"

"Yes I do, please wait for a moment, I will be here shortly." Kataoka answered as she took the plate in her hand and brought it into the kitchen before dumping it in the sink. She then boiled some hot water into a cup full of hot chocolate powder.

"Here." Kataoka said as she placed the mug on the wooden table. "Now…shall we commence with the homework?"

* * *

"Please Aki-chan can we stop now?" Umei begged after two hours.

"No." Was the only reply the girl received as Kataoka hit Umei on the head with a paper fan resulting with a cry coming from the taller girl. "I will make sure Umei-san can finish half of this chapter before tonight. Let us continue."

Kataoka sighed after one more hour of constant drilling, "I am amazed: it is the first time when I came across such an obtuse student." She commented flatly.

* * *

"Be quiet Aki-chan, I am trying to mend my self-respect here."

"Alright, let us stop for tonight, it is already one am and I am sure both of us needs to sleep, good night." Kataoka stated as she entered her bedroom and fell asleep instantly.

"Umei-san, wake up, it is morning already." Kataoka dragged the athletic girl with chestnut locks into the bathroom and splashed cold water onto the half-asleep teenager's face.

"S-So cold Aki-chan." Umei mumbled sleepily.

"Wake up Umei-san." There was a tinge of annoyance in Kataoka's voice but Umei didn't comply. Suddenly Umei felt sharp stinging pain on her face and her eyes widened with the shock of the slap. Kataoka looked with a shook of her head at Umei.

"I cannot believe I had to use that move to wake Umei-san up. Hurry, breakfast is ready." Miso soup, boiled eggs and rice was quickly placed on the table along with some pickles as Umei sat down hastily brushing down her chestnut brown hair.

Umei quickly wolfed down the food, hoping that Kataoka wouldn't slap her again. Kataoka smiled contently from the kitchen as she prepared their lunch. But as soon Umei choked on her food and she earned herself a frown from Kataoka.

"Please go and change Umei-san. I have already packed your lunch, I do not know if it is enough though. It is onigiri with pickled plum and mustard, omelette, pickles and sliced apples. Is that alright with Umei-san?" Kataoka asked while slicing the apples and lifted her head to see a gaping Umei looking down at the bento box.

"Aki-chan made all of this?" Umei asked with shock.

"Yes, now Umei-san better hurry up and change, school starts in ten minutes." With that Umei ran to her room and hurriedly tossed on her school blouse with the shortened school skirt and sweater.

Umei ran out of her room to find Kataoka standing by the door with an extra bag hanging from her hands. She tossed the bag to Umei silently and left the dorms hurriedly with Umei rushing behind her.

* * *

"You didn't come to practice today." Akashi stated once he found Kataoka sitting in the library, sorting the books. Kataoka jolted, she was still not used to him noticing her presence.

"I am on my staff-assistance duty, today one of the library monitors didn't come to her duty so I filled in for her. Besides, it is not like the basketball team really needs me at the moment, all of the regulars are pretty strong. The benched members just need more experience which comes with time." Kataoka answered as she stood on her tip toes to slit the thin book into the top shelf.

"I see." Was all Akashi could say as the stoic girl gave him a short glance as if she was waiting for a reply.

"Shirogane-sensei already knows this but I will be taking my break tomorrow." Kataoka stated, "Do not worry, I will get the paperwork done." Kataoka added. Akashi nodded slowly and was walking away when a tall male student bumped into Kataoka causing her to drop all of the books she was carrying.

"Sorry," the boy gulped as he leaned down and extended a hand to help her up but a pale white hand pushed his away.

"No it is alright, I am fine." Kataoka slowly stood up and gave the boy a small bow before kneeling down to pick up the books.

"Here let me help." The boy added as he too kneeled down to pick up the books.

"No it is fine…um…." Kataoka looked up at him with innocent sapphire eyes and the boy felt his cheeks heating up.

"Shijima Yuuichi." He answered with a gulp.

"Thankyou Shijima-san, my name is Kataoka Akiri. It is my pleasure to meet Shijima-san for the first time." Kataoka added with a smile, Shijima's face darkened into a deeper shade of red and Akashi felt his usual cool face turn into a frown. _How weak, _Akashi thought to himself, _for him to fall for a girl so easily. _He then shot his dark-haired maiden another look before walking out of the library.


	4. Chapter 4 A Challenger

Chapter Four a Challenger

Akashi smiled as he moved another shogi piece on the dark, polished wood. He pushed his slim fingers through his crimson locks as he sat back against his office seat. Akashi sighed as he glanced up to the ceiling, a gentle knock echoed from the door and Akashi looked up from his game of chess to the door.

"Akashi-san are you there?" Came the all too familiar voice, "I am coming in." The door opened and revealed the petite girl with black hair holding papers in her slim fingers. Akashi made no sound as he watched his classmate enter the school council room silently and gently placing the mound of papers she stood back and explained her action.

"Shirogane-sensei wanted me to give this to you, he told me it was about the basketball training menu for Inter-High." Akashi slowly nodded as he gingerly held the paper up to his heterochromatic eyes before slowly nodding.

"Anything else?" Akashi asked but the dark-haired maiden wasn't listening to him anymore, cocking her head to one side, she looked at his shogi board before slowly nodding.

"Is this piece supposed to be Mibuchi-san?" Kataoka asked quietly pointing to a shogi piece ahead of all the other pieces.

"Yes, that is Reo." Akashi answered calmly, not betraying a single thread of surprise he felt.

"And that is Hayama-senpai, Nebuya-senpai, and who is that person Akashi-san?" Kataoka asked pointing to a piece a little strayed from the others. Akashi smiled upon remembering who that piece was representing.

"That, is Mayuzumi." Akashi answered feeling pleased of himself, he had successfully recruited a person who was going to be his new, 'Phantom Sixth Man'. Kataoka looked up, a slight look of question in her eyes while the face remained neutral.

"Mayuzumi Chihiro, a third year, he is a pretty average player but definitely suited to that job." Akashi answered, anticipating the unasked question but not explaining what the job was. Kataoka slowly nodded as she turned back to the shogi board, her eyes then caught sight of another shogi piece and widened.

"Akashi-san, is that piece representing me?" Kataoka asked, trying to diminish the shock in her voice.

"Yes," Akashi answered while nodding, "that is you Kataoka Akiri."

Kataoka felt winded, how was she able to play into Akashi's plans? Akashi, upon sensing the sudden gather of tension within the room, answered the question begging to be asked in Kataoka's throat.

"My orders are absolute so obviously you would be part of my plans as well." Akashi answered modestly, his tone contrary to what he was saying. Kataoka stiffened before slowly removing the shogi piece that represented her and placed it on the table.

"I hope Akashi-san will remove me from his plan, I am not a tool to be used, nor does Akashi-san have any power over me." Kataoka answered calmly. With her back to the redheaded emperor, he had failed to see the girl's eyes which were now a midnight blue instead of her usual sapphire.

"Are you questioning my authority Kataoka?" Akashi asked, his voice was dangerously low but Kataoka remained unfazed as she turned around and faced him.

"I acknowledge the fact that Akashi-san is Rakuzan's school president and the basketball team's captain. I am respectful of Akashi-san but that does not mean I am willing to become one of Akashi-san's servants or pawns merely to move around. I understand that Akashi-san has some power over the school and the basketball team, and in some ways, me I guess. However, I am not prepared to make myself someone who will obey Akashi-san's orders blindly just yet, so I hope I will not get myself involved with this plan Akashi-san has. Thank you, I will take my leave now."

Kataoka gave Akashi a small bow and was walking to the entrance of the school council room with her back to him when she felt something approaching behind her. She dodged the object upon instinct and the wind zipped past her ear. She quickly turned in mid-dodge and saw a flash of silver as Akashi slashed his scissors at her.

Akashi raised one of his eyebrows and placed the pair of silver utensils back on his table with his other writing utensils. "That was the first time someone has successfully dodged my attack. I am impressed Kataoka." His voice was smooth and velvety but Kataoka showed no sign of happiness at his compliment as her eyes turned a shade darker as her voice turned harsher and louder.

"Please do not speak so condescendingly Akashi-san." Kataoka scolded coldly, Akashi's eyes narrowed at the harsh words as his fingers crept to the stray shogi piece on the table.

"You are in no place to tell me off Kataoka." Akashi reprimanded quietly as he sat back in his chair. He chilled the room's temperature drastically as one of his hands curled around the shogi piece picked out by Kataoka. Kataoka stood there perfectly straight and gazed calmly at her redheaded school president as she opened her mouth again.

"I am free to speak my mind Akashi-san."

Akashi looked up from the shogi piece and his hand was a blur as he striked the dark-haired maiden once again except this time he hurled the shogi piece representing the maiden to her face. Kataoka raised a hand at the last minute and caught the wooden piece with two fingers. Akashi gazed placidly at the petite girl, _I need to be more careful around her, _he thought to himself.

Kataoka continued to stare at Akashi square in the eyes before exhaling deeply. There seemed to be something she wanted to ask but at the same time, she didn't know where to start. With another excess bow, Kataoka left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Akashi relaxed his stance and leaned against the wall, his eyes staring up at the ceiling once again as he slowly smiled. _A challenger…_

* * *

"Aki-chan!" Umei tried in vain to catch the dark-haired maiden's attention as she read the poems intently in their living room, Umei pouted before trying again.

"AKI-CHAN!" The thick book clattered to the floor and Kataoka looked up as if she was just waking up from a distant dream.

"Yes Umei-san how can I help you?" Kataoka asked flatly.

"My brother Umei Ryou is having his 21st birthday party on the 6th of May, can you come with me?" Umei asked. Kataoka rubbed her tired eyes before replying really slowly.

"The Umei family is a really high-classed family right?" Kataoka asked.

"Yes it is and the parties are generally pretty boring but the food served there are really nice!" Umei chirped.

"Would it be required of me to wear pretty clothes and style myself if I were to attend the party?" Kataoka asked again.

"Of course, there is a lot of competition as to which girl wears the best dress and so on…"

"Then I am not going."

"Eh? But why Aki-chan?" Umei whinnied.

"I do not have enough money as you do Umei-san." Kataoka answered exasperatedly.

"But it is really cheap if we pay."

"I do not want someone else to pay for my expenses so the answer is a no." Kataoka flipped over the thin paper and answered flatly.

"But Aki-chan has been waking me up every morning, tutoring me every night, making the meals and taking care of me. Mother would definitely have given you double the cost of the dress that is going to be made for you. Please Aki-chan? Please?" Umei pulled her puppy face which even someone as cold as Kataoka could not resist.

"Oh alright," Kataoka sighed, "I will come to the party, but why didn't Umei-san invite the others? I am sure they would be happy to come." Kataoka questioned.

"Mother told me to only invite my roommate to Ryou-nii's party, she made me live in a student apartment." Umei replied.

"Oh I see…" Kataoka trailed off, "so what do I have to do at the party?"

"Um…just look pretty I guess, only dance with the same man at the most three times. Appease everyone at the party and make sure you compliment everyone who speaks to you and remember their name." Umei thought out aloud.

"That should be fine right?" Umei asked.

"It would be hard." Kataoka stated, "Because I am terrible at lying. Also, I cannot walk in high heels."

"That shouldn't be too hard." Umei waved off with a laugh, "I will teach you how to walk in them myself."

* * *

"Is Umei-san sure the heels are not too high?" Kataoka asked stoically as she stood on heels that was five centimetres high standing in front of the mirror.

"Oh c'mon Aki-chan! I generally wear heels two centimetres higher." Umei answered with a roll of her eyes. "Alright, now I will teach you the dancing steps." Umei added with a clap of her hands and played the music. To her surprise, Kataoka caught on to dancing pretty easily and she only needed two lessons before the party.

* * *

"Alright everyone let us take a break." Akashi announced during practice and all of the players collapsed onto the floor, groaning as they did so. His red and golden eyes caught the sight of a girl standing solitarily in a corner with her clipboard clutched in her slim fingers and slowly approached her.

"Isn't Kata-chan cute with Sei-chan?" Mibuchi commented as he looked at his two kouhai.

"Huh I guess so." Nebuya mumbled with his mouth full of Kataoka's specially made bread which boosted his energy really quickly. Mibuchi looked at him in disgust.

"Urghh…Nebuya, don't talk with your mouth full!" Mibuchi criticised him in a tone that was slightly screechy. The newly recruited third year, the power forward-Mayuzumi Chihiro leaned back on the walls as he looked at his captain and his manager, eyes betraying nothing as his eyes went back to the novel in his hands.

* * *

"How can I help Akashi-san?" Kataoka asked upon seeing the approaching teen.

"I want to see how Yamada and Yamaguchi is going, I am thinking about lowering them back to second strings." Akashi replied placidly. Shaking slightly, Kataoka handed the redheaded captain her clipboard. Akashi shooked his head upon seeing the pair's pentagon chart to show the players' overall skills and abilities.

"Low, unbalanced levels compared with the rest of the team, I should move them down soon." Akashi murmured to himself quietly yet still audible enough for Kataoka to hear, she stiffened at those words.

"Kataoka, please remove their names from the first-stringers' roll by the end of the week." The supreme emperor made his order and was walking back to his team when someone tugged him by his shirt-sleeves. Akashi turned around, slightly irritated at the fact his classmate touched his tee without saying anything.

"Please," Kataoka requested, her eyes were pleading. "Please don't move Yamaguchi-san and Yamada-san back into the second-stringers yet. If they are at a certain level, would Akashi-san allow them to stay in the first strings?" She loosened her hold on Akashi's sleeve and dropped her hand to her side as she allowed Akashi to think.

"Maybe." Akashi answered, "Yamada and Yamaguchi need to be at the level of most of the other team members to be fully part of the first strings. They do not have to attend the usual practice, all they have to do is satisfy the level I have set one week before Inter-High." And with that final comment, Akashi walked off and resumed their training.

* * *

"Yamada, Yamaguchi, please stay in the gym after practice, the manager would like to talk to you for a moment." Akashi announced as he concluded their training session for the day, the two benched first years sat nervously on the benches while the rest of the team members left, having a feeling what the manager might say. Kataoka suddenly appeared between the two of them resulting in the two players jolting, an eyebrow was raised as a response but the manager said nothing as she continuously tapped on her clipboard.

"Yamada-san, Yamaguchi-san, I acknowledge the fact that the two of you are exceptional players and the only first years other than Akashi-san who made it into the first strings this year. However," the two players gulped, "your skills are not keeping up with the rest of the team so I am assigned to be Yamada-san and Yamaguchi-san's personal trainer until one week before Inter-High starts. I am not sure if Yamada-san and Yamaguchi-san are prepared to do this so you two are free to drop out of the training any of the time, but you two would be moved to the second-strings if your levels does not satisfy. Would Yamada-san and Yamaguchi-san like to participate in this special training session?" Kataoka asked and the two first years answered in unison.

"Yes."

* * *

"Alright, now twenty more push ups!" Kataoka spoke into the loud speaker, "Now five minutes of non-stop jumping!" The two players reacted at the same time and quickly jumped non-stop for five minutes.

"Stop!" The voice halted them and they collapsed to the ground, Kataoka slowly approached them and forced them to stand up and walk around the oval before sitting down on one of the benches. She handed them their towels and a bowl full of perfectly sliced lemon in honey.

"Alright," Kataoka's tone became serious as she gazed over her pentagon, "tomorrow's training will consist of lay-ups and the same things we did today. Today's session is over, please lay on one of the benches and I will loosen the muscles for you."

* * *

Akashi smirked as her watched the three of them work from the student council room windows and moved a shogi piece, his smile broadening.

"So much for not playing into my plans Kataoka." Akashi murmured to himself with a smiling face.

* * *

Kataoka is easier to manipulate than I thought, also just a reminder that at the moment Akashi and Kataoka has NO feelings for each other what so ever at this point in time. If you had noticed, their relationship is actually rather strained. For Akashi, well he is the same but I hope you guys noticed that Kataoka lost her cool the moment she noticed that Akashi was using people like tools.


	5. Chapter 5 Weekends

Chapter Five Weekends

"Eh? Aki-chan, you are going home today?" Umei asked from her bed, Kataoka nodded solemnly as she adjusted the straps of her shoulder bag in her friend's room.

"Yes Umei-san, I fear my little sister would be troubling my parents too much. I am going to Tokyo right now and will come back tomorrow night, the breakfast is in the fridge, please help yourself to it." Kataoka answered as she slipped on her shoes and left Umei's messy bedroom.

It was a clear day with no stray clouds on the azure sky, Kataoka switched on her mp3 and played her favourite violin pieces on medium volume as she made her way to the train station. The dark-haired maiden smiled gently to herself as she sprinted across the unattended road, the cool spring wind zipping past her ears as she ran.

* * *

A black limo glided smoothly across the flat road and eased to a slight halt as it parked elegantly into a narrow strip of land. One of the back doors of the limo opened and a certain majestic redhead departed from the prestige car, he walked to the driver's seat and tapped gently on the glass before speaking to the chauffeur.

"I will be walking home tomorrow night, there will be no need to pick me up." Akashi demanded from his middle-aged driver.

"But Seijuurou-sama, your father has specifically told me to—" His words were quickly cut by the voice his sharp young master.

"I will be fine Takeshi-san, I know how to take care of myself. Please remember that I learnt self-defence for five years, I will see you on Sunday night." And with that Akashi turned to the train station, leaving his driver speechless by the black limo.

Kataoka was unsurprised when she saw the solemn boy with crimson hair standing perfectly straight with his hands dipped deeply into his jeans pockets. His heterochromatic orbs of ruby-red and topaz-gold gazed at something unseen as the petite dark-haired maiden entered the station keeping a certain distance between the two of them.

"Is Kataoka planning to keep that distance between the two of us?" Akashi asked once he noticed that Kataoka had gave him at least a ten metre check.

"Yes." Kataoka answered as she shuffled her songs and closed her eyes. Akashi gave her a sideway glance before turning away.

* * *

"Is Kataoka getting off at Beika?" Akashi asked when they were in the carriage and he saw Kataoka standing up with him and walking to the door once Beika was announced on the speaker, Kataoka nodded but said nothing.

"Is Kataoka coming to Tokyo to visit your family?" Akashi asked, Kataoka nodded once again but still kept silent. The two scanned their cards and parted ways, Kataoka had to go home and Akashi was scheduled to meet his father.

* * *

"Onee-chan!" Kataoka's little sister, Rin greeted cheerily upon hearing the ringing of the doorbell and jumped into her older sister's arms.

"I think you have gotten heavier Rin." Kataoka chuckled as she carried her pouting seven year old sister into the living room where her mother was doing her work on her laptop.

"Tadaima Okaa-san." Takagi Hanari, Kataoka's mother glanced up from her laptop screen and gave her daughter a tired smile.

"Okaeri" Hanari answered with a smiling face. "Rin has been bothering me all morning asking when you are going to come back. Do you have something to do?"

"No, I just need to go to the book store to buy some new books and here are some souvenirs from Kyoto." Kataoka deposited her bag of traditional Japanese goods on the low-set table, Hanari smiled.

"Then can you take Rin to the city? She would need two new pairs of school shoes and a pair of light runners, you can also pick your books there." Kataoka nodded expressionlessly in agreement while Rin shrieked with delight.

"Yes!" Rin jumped from her older sister's arms, "Can we go and have crepes there too?" Rin asked with a puppy expression on her face. While Kataoka inherited long black hair from her father and sapphire eyes from her mother, Rin adopted her mother's sky blue hair and her father's caramel eyes. This enabled Rin to have a seemingly cuter pair of puppy eyes as she gazed up at her older sister. Kataoka smiled as she ruffled her little sister's chin-length paste-blue hair, successfully messing it, she picked her little sister up and lifted her up.

"Of course older sister will get crepes for you, but you need to be good otherwise I won't come back next week. Okay?" Rin nodded seriously as she tried to smother her messy hair down with her small hands and Hanari smiled from behind the laptop screens.

"Akiri, have you had breakfast yet?" Hanari asked, Kataoka nodded before getting pulled by Rin to the door. Kataoka smiled at the eagerness expression on Rin's face and turned around to answer her mother a question about Rakuzan. Rin stamped her foot impatiently when she saw her Onee-chan still talking to her Okaa-san.

"Hurry! We are going to miss the train!" Kataoka wrapped up what she was saying to her Okaa-san with an 'It is fine' and Rin dragged her out of their house.

* * *

"What about these Onee-chan?" Rin pulled a pair of white runners from the shelf with a look of question on her face as Kataoka scanned the other shoes on the shelves judgingly.

"Do you like them Rin?" Kataoka asked, rather surprised at the plain choice. Rin shrugged.

"These ones are cheaper anyway." Rin mumbled, Kataoka laughed as she ruffled her sister's hair, successfully messing it as Rin scowled.

"I brought extra money today, just don't tell Okaa-san okay?" Kataoka asked with a small smile on her face as Rin immediately brightened.

"Okay I like these red ones!" Rin pointed to the top shelf where a pair of white shoes just the right size for her with streaks of red and grey rested. Kataoka stood on her toes and took the shoes from the shelf. Her eyes narrowed when she saw the price: 7,000 yen-that is half of her earnings. Alright, she will buy it for Rin anyway. Upon seeing Rin looking anxiously up at her Kataoka smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry about the money Rin, it is fine, the price is…okay." Kataoka added, failing at covering up for the obvious lie, Rin looked to the floor.

"Ne, ne, Onee-chan, don't buy it. It was really expensive right? I can just get the white ones, everyone has those anyway." Rin suggested, feeling rathe guilty. Kataoka shooked her head.

"Don't worry about it Rin, it is a treat. Besides, you wanted this pair of shoes for a long time didn't you? If you ace your next upcoming test and wash the dishes every night, I will get you another treat when I come back." Kataoka answered as they stood in the queue to the cash register. Rin's eyes sparkled at the prospect of another present from her older sister.

"What would it be Onee-chan? Will you get me another soft toy? Or chocolates?" Rin pestered excitedly as Kataoka shooked her head with a small smile adorning her porcelain-white cheeks.

"I haven't decided yet but I think it would be something Rin would like." Kataoka answered as she stepped forward to the cashier and place the pair of shoes on the register along with two pairs of indoor school shoes. She paid the price for the three pairs of shoes before the pair departed from the store.

* * *

"Seijuurou," Akashi's father's voice travelled from one end of the long table to another as his worn hand passed a folder across the polished mahogany table and Akashi opened the creamy folder gingerly. Heterochromatic eyes narrowed at the sight of a man with unruly black hair in his early thirties and his entire profile information.

"What is this about Father?" Akashi asked with his voice kept in monotone. Akashi's father, Akashi Houzou's expression turned stern.

"I would like you to go our company in Kyoto in my place and fire this man, he has been slacking off continuously for two months, that sort of behaviour is unacceptable in the Akashi Corporation." Akashi nodded silently to his father's order.

"Are there anything else about this man?" Akashi asked, the end of Houzou's mouth creased upwards.

"He is a man with high pride, after you fire him, he is most likely to come looking for a fight. He had learnt judo for four years when he was in university and there is a bunch of people with him so be prepared." Akashi nodded once again in reply.

"Now you are dismissed Seijuurou." Akashi stood up as a man standing behind his father walked up to the door and opened it for the young master with red hair as Akashi made his departure.

* * *

In the book store, Kataoka was looking for difficult yet interesting books to read while her little sister Rin was flipping through manga, making loud comments about each picture she sees. The stern lady in her late fifties who was looking for cook books stood next to Rin, she glared disapprovingly at the seven year old through her wiped spectacles as Rin purposely ignored the skinny lady. After a while, Kataoka found the book she was looking for and walked up to Rin's shelf, scaring the wits out of her little sister when she appeared behind the bubbly seven year old.

"Shall we go now?" Kataoka asked flatly with two books in her hand. Rin inhaled sharply and her shoulders jolted before slowly relaxing, she turned around with her hands on her hips.

"Ne, ne, Onee-chan is planning to give us all a 'death by heart attack' right?" Rin asked cheerily with her favourite line as Kataoka paid for her books.

"I was not planning to do that, it is just that Rin and everyone else fails to see me. Also Rin, that line 'death by heart attack' is getting overused it is starting to lose its meaning." Kataoka commented, Rin smiled happily.

"Onee-chan always say that." Kataoka nodded and patted her little sister on the head affectionately. Rin pouted.

"Every time Onee-chan does that, I feel short." Rin complained, Kataoka smiled.

"Then Rin better hurry up and grow taller, would Rin like some crepes?" Kataoka asked in a nice soft contrasting voice from her little sister's loud, cheery ones. Rin jumped and her right hand punched the air.

"Hai! Blueberries and banana with Nutella and extra cream for me!" Rin commented loudly and Kataoka smiled as she covered her sister's mouth.

"We are at a public area, please be a bit quieter Rin." Kataoka requested but Rin ignored her older sister, she dragged Kataoka to a popular crepe store where there was a long queue of people lining up for their order in the creamy store which had a giant crepe at the top. Kataoka's eyebrows disappeared past her bangs upon seeing the amount of people within the store, she didn't like crowded places very much, especially since she always get shoved around a lot.

"Why don't we go to another crepe store Rin? This store is a bit too crowded." Rin looked up at her sister with large brown eyes.

"This crepe store is the least popular one in this area, the other one is virtually…um…overflowing with people." Kataoka nodded with a sigh as the pair lined up.

"Then can Rin buy the crepes for the two of us?" Kataoka asked as Rin nodded obediently before cocking her head to one side.

"Which one would Onee-chan like?" Rin asked. Kataoka tapped her finger on her chin before answering.

"Strawberry and mango with vanilla ice cream, also please get me a medium sized green tea milk shake, Rin can also get herself a small sized drink too." Rin sighed at the mention of her older sister's older time favourite crepe before nodding and joined the queue.

Kataoka stood against the wall and started to read.

* * *

Akashi turned into a street full of malls and stores, he was looking for a sports store to buy new basketball shoes for himself. He generally wouldn't bother himself with such low chores but today he was looking forward to some excise so he walked from the Akashi Corporation building and took the bus to the shopping area.

Akashi was just about enter the mall when he saw a girl standing in a familiar pose by the crepe store. At first Akashi wasn't able to recognise the teenage girl standing there with a book in hand and a small number of papers, however the wind blew and the girl brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ears and Akashi immediately saw the sapphire orbs he had grew familiar of. A girl holding two crepes and a white translucent plastic bag which Akashi suspected contained to drinks walked up to Kataoka and the dark haired maiden closed the book and placed it back in a paper bag. Her usual placid face changed into one which was capable of emotions as she smiled gently at the young girl with pastel blue hair and one of her slim, violin hands took a crepe from the child's hand.

Akashi stood stunned for a moment at the sight of seeing the model smile. The sudden increase of the level of attractiveness about her which she had when she smiled was astounding. Everything about Kataoka suddenly seemed to fit perfectly now, starting with her plain clothes to the silky black hair and then to the seemingly unnoticeable pose and the way she was walking and Akashi took it all in through his heterochromatic orbs. After two seconds of the brief pause, Akashi blinked then nodded in acknowledgement of how good-looking his team's temporary manager was and entered the mall.

* * *

"Onee-chan," Rin began to speak as the pair was walking home from the bus stop back to their house, the sun was setting against the red sky and the seven year old was twiddling her fingers nervously.

"Yes Rin?" Kataoka asked, she had been staring into space for a moment until Rin spoke.

"D-Do you like Tetsuya-nii-chan?" Kataoka smiled at the question: Rin has had a huge crush on her cousin, Kuroko Tetsuya for a long time. Although Rin never said anything, it was all too obvious for Kataoka and her family.

"No I do not like Kuroko-kun that way, but isn't Kuroko-kun a little too old for Rin? He is eight to nine years older." Kataoka commented lightly. Rin fumed a little at the comment not even realising that her older sister has already known that she liked her fifteen year old cousin. Ria always said that Rin was too young for Kuroko so Rin was looking for support when she asked her older sister the question.

"That is what Ria-chan always say." Rin answered with annoyance, Kataoka shrugged gracefully before smiling a little once again.

"That is because it is true. I am not planning to ruin Rin's dreams but the most Kuroko-kun would ever see in Rin will definitely not be a potential girlfriend." Kataoka answered bluntly but not unkindly to her younger sister. "We must be logical here, Kuroko-kun doesn't come to our house very often and besides, Momoi-san already likes him. She is his age, is quite fierce and she makes it clear to everyone that she wants Kuroko-kun." Kataoka added the killing blow with a pat on Rin who was on the verge of getting upset's head.

Kataoka stopped walking and knelt down in front of her little sister, "It is alright for it to be a childhood crush but please forget about Kuroko-kun once Kuroko-kun is in his university years, okay?" Rin nodded with a pouting mouth as Kataoka smiled and took her little sister in her arms. "Try to forget about Kuroko-kun. It is way too early to think about love anyway, maybe Rin can try once Rin reaches your university, maybe high school years. At the moment Rin needs to study to get into a good middle school, high school and university." Kataoka felt Rin nod against her shoulder and released the seven year old before gently smiling at her.

The pair continued to walk until Rin fired another question.

"Does Onee-chan like anyone?" The smile slipped from Kataoka's face as she grew silent, Rin peered up at her older sister who was staring into something unseen. "Onee-chan?" Kataoka snapped out of her daydream before answering slowly.

"I did like someone during middle school, but I think he has already forgotten about me."

"Who was it Onee-chan?" Rin asked worriedly once she saw the sad smile on her sister's face. "Who was the person you liked Onee-chan?"

All traces of emotion was wiped off Kataoka's face at the question as the pair kept on walking. There was a long silence before Kataoka answered.

"I liked, no I still like him. The person I like is Ogiwara-kun."

* * *

Yosh! ~Stretches after two hours of typing on the bed~

It took me a long time to finish this chapter, particularly since I kind of had no idea where it was going to go.

Just a reminder that Akashi STILL DOES NOT like Kataoka, he just thinks that she is good-looking *like an emperor*

Please review and give any suggestions for the upcoming chapters.

Also, I am planning to add more ships into this story because I am a complete sadist when it comes to mentally torturing my male characters. I have sworn a long time ago to torture Akashi none stop in this story due to what he did to Kuroko and everyone else in the actual story. However I am wondering if I can keep this none stop death-plan up and running so new suggestion to mentally wound Akashi are always welcome. No protests if you love Akashi-sama because that is EXACTLY what my friend does so I have had enough of "Akashi is cooler than you" or "Akashi-KUN! (Peach hearts)" or none stop doodles on my notebooks in pencil with 'Akashi-sama' and love hearts.

Oh yes, tell me how to improve Akashi if you are unhappy with the current one.

P.S. What colour is Ogiwara's hair? (I will need it)


	6. Chapter 6 Mayuzumi Chihiro

Chapter Six Mayuzumi Chihiro

"_I thought you were the same as him but now I realised you won't just be a 'phantom sixth man', you will be the 'new phantom sixth man.'" Akashi answered solemnly as he waited for Mayuzumi's reply._

* * *

Akashi was sitting in his study, gazing at the paperwork and a shogi board when the door was rapped continuously.

"Enter." His monotone voice ordered and the door opened without a creak. It was Takayama, his 'information seeker'. Even without turning around, Akashi could identify the light footsteps his servant made and addressed him with confidence.

"Takayama, what have you found?" Akashi asked as he continued to stare on his shogi board.

"Seijuurou-sama, regarding the girl you were investigating-Kataoka Akiri, her father Kataoka Daisuke was a famous violinist and composer. Daisuke-san was also Kataoka Ayako-the chairman of the company Kataoka Group—'s favourite nephew and was to inherit most of Ayako-dono's wealth. Daisuke-san was murdered after his performance six years ago, leaving his pregnant wife and a nine year old daughter—Kataoka Akiri.

Akiri-san was brought up in a prestige environment but was exploited many times by her relatives who wanted his father's fortune thus, her mother Takagi Hanari-san had trained her the art of misdirection which Hanari-san's older sister also knew. Akiri-san was home-schooled until her father's death, leading her to be rather introverted and distrusting of everyone around her except for her mother and her younger sister, Kataoka Rin and is extremely sensitive to any sort of manipulation.

Akiri-san is Kuroko Tetsuya-kun's cousin whom she is a close friend of, and attended the same primary school as him. Apparently when Tetsuya-kun began to show interest to basketball, Akiri-san was the one who helped him to grasp the techniques and the basic rules. Ogiwara Shigehiro, a boy who attended the same school as Tetsuya-kun and Akiri-san also helped Tetsuya-kun with basketball and the three of them were really good friends.

It was also around this time when Akiri-san became a kendo nationalist and became really skilled at her violin as she slowly got over her father's death.

In Akiri-san's middle school years, she attended a prestige girl school which was quite close to Shigehiro-kun's middle school and the two would often walk home together. It was rumoured that the two was rather fond of each other but had never admitted it. Akiri-san also went to Teikou a few times per year to meet her great-aunt Ayako-dono who lived in the CBD of Tokyo and her cousin Tetsuya-kun. I was unable to find any information regarding her conversations with Tetsuya-kun but she had met Momoi Satsuki-san in one of her trips to Teikou.

Akiri-san was quite supportive of Shigehiro-kun and Tetsuya-kun and even though she was a kendo nationalist, she had often emphasised teamwork." Akashi's eyes twitched at the mention of 'teamwork' and although that small action didn't go unnoticed by his servant, Takayama continued to report his findings.

"Akiri-san was also the person who taught Tetsuya-kun the basics of using misdirection in basketball. She taught him the raw basics and he polished the skills.

During Akiri-san's second year of middle school, she made her first debut as a model and became her school's 'flower'. She continued to use her misdirection to be unseen at school and during kendo matches, and she was still an introverted person around her classmates. It was also around this time when she noticed the difference in mind of the Generation of Miracles and often emphasised to Tetsuya-kun that he must keep the team together.

When Akiri-san was in her third year of middle school, she witnessed Shigehiro-kun's team getting crushed by the Generation of Miracles and witnessed the Shigehiro-kun's terrible defeat. She then decided to have nothing to do with basketball anymore, quit her modelling job and enrolled into Rakuzan." Takayama finished the report dramatically and silence soon engulfed the room, after a few moments of neither of them speaking, Akashi finally opened his mouth.

"Thankyou Takayama, you may go now." Akashi ordered calmly, he saw Yamaguchi's shadow incline his head before leaving the room. Akashi smiled slightly as he moved Kataoka's shogi piece on his board. Yamaguchi's report was raw, but he was pretty sure he had grasped the girl now, his grin widened as he moved Mayuzumi's piece away from Kataoka's and relaxed in his chair.

"I finally know who you are now Akiri." Akashi murmured as he held the shogi piece up against the light.

* * *

Akashi slowly nodded upon seeing Yamada and Yamaguchi practice in the gym, their fundamentals have improved by a margin since Kataoka's training.

"You have trained them well Akiri." Akashi commented to the oblivious girl standing next to him, jotting down the player's overall capabilities.

Hmm…Yamada-san lost his nerve there or his goal would've went in. I guess his mental strength have not improved by much, I will need to train him to shoot under pressure, at the moment I am putting his mental level as 6. Hmm…Yamaguchi-san's beep test level increased to an eight point five so stamina level will be eight…. Kataoka paid no attention to what Akashi was saying to her as she went into her own world of endless charts and numbers while Akashi observed her, watching her every movement and pairing up different emotions with each gesture. Upon seeing Yamada gaining a slight injury as he landed awkwardly on his weaker leg, Kataoka stopped the practice and called him to the benches, Yamada hobbled up to her nervously.

"Yamada-san had landed awkwardly just then when Yamada-san was doing the layer-up, allow me to bandage the leg so the tear would not be big." Kataoka offered with a bunch of white bandages in her hands, Yamada slowly nodded as he sat down on the cold bench while Kataoka knelt down and carefully bandaged his leg. Once in a while she would ask, 'is it too tight?' or 'does it hurt?' before getting satisfied with her work.

Akashi stood behind her watching his classmate working efficiently while thinking in the back of his head. The job of the manager is only suited to her.

After practice Akashi made his announcement to the two anxious first years. "Kataoka-san have trained you well, Yamada and Yamaguchi, you two have now secured a spot in the first strings." Kataoka smiled under her usual glassy stare and hid her face behind her navy clipboard as she watched the two boys grin madly. Once the two first stringers were dismissed, Akashi approached Kataoka.

"Akiri, you have done your job well training these two." Kataoka bowed, not noticing that Akashi had addressed her differently and a few strands of hair fell to her face.

"Thank you Akashi-san for the compliment. It actually was not that hard-Yamada-san and Yamaguchi-san just needed a small push, they had potential to be good basketball players." Akashi quirked an eyebrow at the comment.

"Not excellent players?" Akashi asked solemnly and he was sure he saw a flash of sadness behind the girl's eyes as she shooked her head.

"Akashi-san knows the answer as well as me, the best Yamada-san and Yamaguchi-san can do is be good basketball players. They cannot be excellent players because there is already a group called the Generation of Miracles which Akashi-san is part of." Kataoka's eyes widened at the conversation as she hastily covered her mouth with her clipboard. Akashi smirked at the shocked expression on her face as he walked off.

_I was played into Akashi-san's plan again. He had meant to make me train Yamada-san and Yamaguchi-san from the start and just then he just made me admit that I didn't mind training them and the fact that I was easily manipulated. He also made me admit that I can improve a basketball player's capabilities easily. How can I be so naïve?_ Kataoka thought as she slumped on the benches.

* * *

"_Mayuzumi, make sure you do not show your misdirection in front of our manager. I am afraid she wouldn't be really pleased." Akashi ordered his third-year senpai as the grey-head Mayuzumi nodded solemnly in reply._

"_Good."_

* * *

A new basketball member was soon added into the first strings a few days before the start of Inter-High. Kataoka remembered seeing his name in a resignation form handed in at the start of year and felt something odd. _Strange…_she thought as the third year entered the gym with Akashi. _Why would Mayuzumi Chihiro-senpai come back to the basketball team in the first strings after resigning?_ Not_ to mention, Mayuzumi-senpai was such an average player who never had the potential to be in the first strings…what is Akashi-san playing at this time?_

Kataoka suddenly recognise the reason for why she was feeling so odd, _Mayuzumi Chihiro…wait…wasn't he the person on Akashi-san's shogi board I saw two weeks ago? _Kataoka widened her eyes as she tried in vain to find any statistics regarding her grey-headed senpai as her eyes followed him across the gym. _I didn't get anything vital at all! _Kataoka thought in frustration.

"Akiri," a cold voice shattered the only female in the gym's daydream.

"Yes?" Kataoka answered, not realising that it was Akashi who had just called her by her first name again. She turned and saw Akashi making gestures at her so she walked briskly up to him.

"Hello Mayuzumi-senpai, hello Akashi-san, what may be the matter?" Kataoka asked placidly, her sharp eyes catching a flicker of shock which slid past the grey-headed third year's eyes, Akashi nodded approvingly.

"It seems you already know Mayuzumi-senpai, well, I would like you to give me an overall graphing of him by the end of the day Akiri." Kataoka suddenly jolted when she realised Akashi was calling her by her first name, she clutched her clipboard closer to her body like a shield.

"Alright, but why is Akashi-san addressing me by my first name?" Kataoka asked calmly, all evidence of the fear and panic she felt were shielded below her cool mask except for her shaking hands.

"I call the people whom I have acknowledged their ability by their first name." Heterochromatic eyes narrowed at the next comment, "Don't you like it?"

The tone was dangerous as Kataoka shrugged, trying to ease the sudden heavy weights on her shoulders. "It is fine, I prefer my last name though." She added as she walked off.

Akashi stayed silent for a moment before turning to his taller teammate standing behind him, "I am sure you know her, she is Kataoka Akiri, our temporary manager." The blank-faced Mayuzumi nodded silently as he slowly blended in with the benches on the gym.

Kataoka narrowed her eyes upon seeing Mayuzumi's performance with the ball at a deserted corner of the gym. _Mayuzumi-senpai's powers are really average, how can Mayuzumi-senpai be in the first-strings? _Kataoka threw a glance at the redheaded captain at her next thought. _What is Akashi-san playing at again?_

* * *

After practice, Akashi was receiving Kataoka's chart when he noted that she had given Mayuzumi a four for special ability.

"Akiri," Kataoka stiffened upon hearing her name and slowly faced the captain, "why have you given Mayuzumi-senpai a four for special ability?" Kataoka cocked her head as she looked at her chart before looking up at Akashi calmly.

"Mayuzumi-senpai's overall ability is very much average, he just seems to be a very average player to me and his techniques and everything doesn't really standout. He had no special shooting position or special dribbles like Hayama-senpai and Mibuchi-senpai, nor does he possess the 'Emperor Eye' like Akashi-san. Mayuzumi-senpai doesn't use any of these so I gave him the same score I gave to Nebuya-senpai, is there something wrong with it?" Akashi lowered his head to hide the growing smile on his face as he shooked his head.

"No." He murmured gently, causing Kataoka to narrow her eyes.

"No, nothing is wrong," Akashi raised his head with a solemn expression, "you were right Akiri, his special ability level is four or is probably lower than four." Kataoka said nothing as she shut her clipboard and was about to leave the gym when Akashi stopped her.

"Also Akiri," Kataoka couldn't help stiffening as she turned around with a slight sigh that didn't go missed by Akashi. "you don't like me much do you Akiri?" A look of surprise passed the girl's face as her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Akashi-san investigated me." Kataoka stated flatly, "True, I dislike Akashi-san, or the Akashi-san that is in possession of his body at the moment." Kataoka answered as she pushed the large doors opened and left the now silent gym.

Akashi smiled, "I am glad you reminded me that there were two Akashi in this body Akiri." He muttered to himself.

* * *

A pastel-blue coloured phone was flashing brightly against the surrounding darkness, yawning, Kataoka flipped open the device and answered the phone call after a sigh.

"Hello Obaa-sama," Kataoka spoke into the phone the moment she pressed it against her ear, "How can I help Obaa-sama at midnight?" she asked with a sighing voice.

"Akiri-chan, I have accepted an invitation addressed to us in your place for a party next Sunday." Came an amused, deep, womanly voice from the other side of the line.

"I refuse." Kataoka could just imagine her great aunt smiling as she replied with a deadpanned voice.

"But everything is already prepared Akiri-chan." The tone was vaguely teasing.

"I am already going to a party hosted that night at the Umei Mansion." Kataoka answered tiredly as she sat up in her bed, her violinist fingers pushing through the gaps of her silky black hair.

"Perfect, that is the party I have answered you for with, but I am glad Akiri-chan is finally going to a high-classed party on her own record…." Kataoka sighed as she anticipated the next line. "…who is it for? A boy?" Kataoka mentally face palmed at her grand aunt's clichéd and cheesy question.

"No that is not it Grand Aunt, the host's younger sister is sharing my student apartment and she invited me. It seemed that I could not refuse so I agreed. Also, it is not that much of a big deal." Her great-aunt smiled gently upon hearing those words.

"Is that so Akiri-chan? Well thank your friend for inviting you and I will be dispatching a few people to prepare you for the party. Too bad you have to go to the party as a friend of the host's younger sister instead of the would-be-heir to the Kataoka Group." Her great aunt added hintingly.

"I have already told Grand Aunt many times that I do not wish to be the heir of the Kataoka Group nor the leader of our clan, I wish to have a free life." Kataoka answered coldly, eager to have the phone call finished. She heard her great-aunt sigh.

"You distrust people too easily Akiri." The voice was gentle and Kataoka choked down a lump at her throat upon hearing her name called with no honorific. After a moment of silence, Kataoka answered sharply.

"That has nothing to do with the topic we were talking about Grand Aunt. I have school tomorrow, are there anything else left to be said?" Her great-aunt sighed again upon recognising her great-niece's refusal to continue the conversation any longer.

"That is all Akiri-chan, _oyasumi_."

"_Oyasumi nasai._"

* * *

Yosh! Sorry about the long update, I hit a writer's block and had to write a plan so I can continue. ~apologises~

Please do not ask me how this Yamaguchi guy knew all that stuff about Kataoka because I honestly don't know. (Maybe I will add a sub-plot into the story about Yamaguchi…)

Inter-High is finally going to start after my six chapters of introducing most of the characters. ~Rub hands eagerly~

I think the GoMs will all be shown in this story but they won't make a lot of appearances. I have to have A LOT of Midorima and Takao moments in my story. (Don't worry, no yaoi included)

Have anyone read this part of this fanfic I read? I don't remember the name but there was this Mido and Takao moment and I especially loved this line:

_Takao: Shin-chan loves me, I heart Shin-chan too._

Finally that Mayuzumi bastard is introduced, I have had a long rivalry with him because of what he did to Kuroko.

~Punches Mayuzumi on the face just as he disappeared into the thin air~

Kuroko: Author-san, please refrain yourself form any violent activity.

Also oyasumi nasai/oyasumi means good night or something similar to rest or break. I am sure most people might know but I just added it anyway.

Criticise, review, follow or favourite for the extreme generous.

Thanks.

-Soul

P.S. This is my first time writing so please go easy on me and tell me if there are any mistakes, you will be doing me a MASSIVE favour.


	7. Chapter 7 Inter-High

Chapter Seven: Inter-High

Akashi stared calmly into the glaring, obsidian orbs of a man sitting across of him.

"Mikami Yuuhi, you are expelled from the Akashi Corporation for starting illegal drug dealings between the company and our sponsoring companies. Unsatisfactory work was also submitted from you for two months, please leave this company at once, we do not wish to see you again." Akashi ordered as the man in his late twenties tightened his grip on the pink slip. Mikami lowered his head and allowed his long, unkempt shoulder-length black hair cascading down his unshaven face, teeth was barred as the man tried to hold his anger in.

"Would I need to repeat myself?" Akashi asked smoothly with an arrogant eyebrow quirked.

"No…there would be no need." Mikami stood up clumsily and brisk walked to the door. He twisted the doorknob sharply, opened it, and then slammed it, blowing faint air into Akashi's face.

"Such uncouth behaviour." Akashi noted as he sat back in his chair and closed his eyes.

* * *

Inter-High had finally started and Akashi lengthened the training sessions to watch their next opponent's matches. Kataoka was also spending more time on the basketball club and every afternoon would enter the student council room, handing the next training session's training menu and talking to Akashi about the next training period. This caused some rumours to spread and Kataoka would often find herself getting ambushed by Akashi's devoted fan girls, pressing Kataoka about anything that had passed between her and Akashi. Even though Kataoka knew misdirection, keeping ones guard up during an entire school day was not even easy, even for someone as unnoticeable as Kataoka.

The older brother of Umei's party was also steadily approaching along with the stresses of the spring basketball championships, other known as Inter-High.

"Practice is finished for today." Akashi announced, the first stringed players groaned as they slowly stood up and rubbed their sore joints. Meanwhile, Kataoka was tidying the gym, Akashi approached her after dismissing the other players.

"Akiri," Akashi began, Kataoka stiffened: she really cannot get used to her name being spoken by him.

"Yes Akashi-san?" Kataoka asked as she glanced up from the bench: she was picking up the discarded towels.

"How is the team?" Akashi asked, Kataoka glanced at her clipboard laying on the bench.

"Is Akashi-san talking about the regulars?" Kataoka questioned.

"Yes."

"It is pretty hard answering that question, but I compared Rakuzan's regulars, excluding Akashi-san which the other teams which have a _Kiseki no Sedai _in their team, I would say Rakuzan is still looking pretty advantageous. At the moment anyway." Kataoka finished the sentence thoughtfully. Akashi stood next to her, his height towering over her hunched body. Kataoka turned back to the laundry basket but then she suddenly looked up at Akashi with anticipating fear, confusion and shock.

"But Mayuzumi-senpai, is he going to be a regular as well? Just what is Akashi-san planning?"

Akashi smiled faintly to himself.

"It is rare for Akiri to show so much emotion on her face." Akashi stated and Kataoka immediately closed off to her usual composed expression.

"What about me, when I am compared with the rest of the _Kiseki no Sedai, _what are the differences?" Akashi asked, deciding to avoid the subject.

"When looking at it from all areas, I would say that Akashi-san is the strongest, but Akashi-san lacks the '10 pointed' physical ability which the rest of the _Kiseki no Sedai _have." Kataoka replied straightforwardly, Akashi marvelled at her honesty.

"I see, then what should I do?" Akashi asked coolly, Kataoka looked up at Akashi expressionlessly.

"I do not know, the stronger you are, the harder it is to improve Akashi-san." Akashi made no response to the vague answer.

"And you? How long do you think you will stay?" Akashi asked, Kataoka dropped the towel into the laundry basket silently and rested her hand on the bench.

"Akashi-san knows the answer as well as anyone." She looked up at him through her dark bangs.

"I will stay when I dislike this team's basketball."

"Are you disliking this team's basketball Akiri?" Akashi asked calmly.

"Not particularly Akashi-san, it is more centred onto one person." Kataoka gave no definition as to who that 'one person' maybe but Akashi knew she wasn't going to say anything anymore, so he just left the gym silently.

* * *

The _Kiseki no Sedai _was a team of formidable basketball players from Teikou Junior High, and they were a team which never lost, crushing their opponent with sheer force and skill. With three consecutive championship wins, they were considered to be the best basketball players of the century with their mysterious 'Phantom Sixth Man' as their trump card.

And Akashi Seijuurou, now Rakuzan Basketball Team's captain, was the former captain of Teikou and the captain of the _Kiseki no Sedai. _With his special gift as the 'Emperor Eye', which can 'predict' his opponents' moves, was a man who never knew the meaning of defeat.

* * *

Kataoka collapsed on the couch the minute she entered her living room. Umei was sitting by the low-set table and was rather puzzled at Kataoka's relaxation-she was always so closed and composed, she never said anything about being tired or overworking.

"You are tired today Aki-chan?" Umei asked concernedly, Kataoka nodded and sat up on the couch, her right leg propped up on the sofa and her right arm propped on her right knee. Dropping her shoulder schoolbag on the floor, she took out a video recording of Seirin's practice match against Kaijou.

"Another basketball match?" Umei groaned, ever since Inter-High started, Kataoka has been watching different basketball matches endlessly in their living room on the TV. Kataoka nodded as she advanced to the TV, turned on the DVD player and inserted the disc.

"Which team is it this time?" Umei asked, purely out of curiosity.

"These two teams have nothing to do with Rakuzan at the moment: Seirin and Kaijou." Kataoka answered matter-of-factly.

"It was just a practice match wasn't it?" Umei asked, Kataoka nodded.

"I don't know the scores yet so I am watching it now." Kataoka explained as she sat back in her sofa and the match started. Her sapphire orbs searched in vain for her cousin's pastel blue hair.

"I am sure Tetsuya-kun went to Seirin I am sure of it…" Kataoka mumbled under her breath, Umei glanced up with surprise from her work upon hearing her usual stoic dorm mate muttering incoherent phrases under her breath. _I wonder what has happened to Aki-chan…_Umei thought.

The two teams were lined up, "Seirin, please get your five team members ready." The referee ordered with a sigh, a small smile decorated Kataoka's face, feeling proud of her cousin whom she taught the basics of misdirection. _You have improved Tetsuya-kun…_Kataoka thought, _let us see your 'basketball'. _

"Wait, that guy is Kise Ryouta right?" Umei asked with a slight dreamy look on her face, Kataoka sighed.

Kise Ryouta was one of the _Kiseki no Sedai-_now a first-year basketball player for Kaijou High School. Kise was known as the 'copycat', he was capable to learning any trick the minute he sees it and can usually do it better than the person he learnt it from.

He had decided to give up on teamwork in middle school and relied solely on himself, believing that he will never lose due to his consecutive wins back at Teikou Junior High. Kise was also a very popular model for the magazine Zunon Boy.

Kataoka sighed when she heard Umei screaming, right now what is important is for Seirin to win the practice match and prove to Kise that teamwork surpasses individual strength.

The points at the start were all pointing to Kaijou's advantage. That was, until Seirin showed their first-year Kuroko Tetsuya from Teikou Junior High, the _Kiseki no Sedai's _'Phantom Sixth Man' or someone who was capable of misdirection and cannot be specialised in passes and steals but did not handle the ball for very long. Along with Kagami Taiga, a first-year who possessed raw skill, the two were an excellent duo. Even though Kaijou was still scoring more points, Seirin continued to catch up until Kise accidentally injured Kuroko on the forehead, causing Kuroko to be subbed out.

Seirin was still holding on until Kuroko was subbed in again and this time when Seirin's points were the exact same as the ones of Kaijou's, Kise lost his cool and immediately scored against Kagami, whom he had copied all of his moves of. The match became a struggle for points until the points were even once again with three minutes left of the entire game.

_Kuroko passed a ball to the hoop and Kagami dunked the basketball, doing an alley-oop, thus winning the match. The buzzer was sounded for the end of the match, with a dazed expression, Kise looked at the scoreboard showing 98 points for Kaijou and 100 points for Seirin. "I lost?" _

_Tears rolled down Kise's cheeks as he lowered his head, attempting to hide his tears. His captain, Kasamatsu Yukio, hit him on the back. "Don't cry dammit! Beat them the next time we meet them."_

Although Kise's voice was really soft, Kataoka was sure she heard a 'yes'.

* * *

During practice the next day, Kataoka sighed upon comparing Rakuzan's 'teamwork' with Seirin's. _Seirin's teamwork is a lot stronger than Rakuzan's but even without teamwork, Rakuzan can still beat Seirin in its current state. _

_Tetsuya-kun chose a good 'light' though, that Kagami Taiga possess raw skill, he will be a suitable partner: I look forward to see the duo's progression. _Kataoka thought with a rueful smile.

Kataoka thought about Rakuzan's previous match: it was an extremely easy win for Rakuzan and Akashi didn't even play. The team did perfectly well with the shooting guard Mibuchi's formless shots which Kataoka couldn't help but marvel at. Small forward Hayama's fast dribbles which were called 'lightening dribble' in which the ball just disappears into a blur, and the centre Nebuya's natural strength. Kataoka remembered bringing extra beef sandwiches for the buffy, dark-skinned centre that day just so Nebuya can do his so called, 'muscle screen' and 'muscle dunk's which were definitely unnecessary as they had already overwhelmed their opponents even when Nebuya was doing his normal dunks.

However the team with three of the Uncrowned Generals namely: Mibuchi Reo, Hayama Kotarou and Nebuya Eikichi, Rakuzan had already lacked sufficient teamwork and sportsmanship. Now with the former Teikou captain Akashi Seijuurou whom Kataoka knew was the person who delivered the final blow of separation between the _Kiseki no Sedai_, Rakuzan really was just about everyone playing for themselves. Other than necessary passes, Akashi shouting orders, Hayama making annoying, irrelevant comments, Mibuchi making his feminine complaints and Nebuya's blunt, condescending remarks, there are no proper conversation between the teammates.

Kataoka felt her hands tighten subconsciously around the clipboard, her shield which she often hid her face in, _just how much longer can I endure this? _

However, Rakuzan really is incredible, Kataoka have never seen a team with all the members: even the reserves, capable of doing a layer up consecutively during practices before the match. She also have never felt such pressure and authority the captain emitted, seriously, Rakuzan was definitely the most abnormal basketball team she have ever seen.

Shirogane-sensei blew the whistle for the end of the training session and Kataoka began handing out the towels routinely just like every other practice sessions. She relaxed her misdirection so people can see her without getting frightened but a few still gasped when they felt a towel being placed in their hands

"…all of you are dismissed, Akiri, I will need to talk to you after practice." Akashi made his dismissal as all the other team members left the gym, including the coach. Kataoka approached the redheaded captain, wary and anxious of what Akashi was going to tell her to do.

"What is the matter Akashi-san?" Kataoka asked calmly as she lowered her gaze. Akashi turned his piercing gaze down at the girl in front of him, and then in a demanding tone, made his announcement.

"Akiri, do not come to the basketball training sessions from now on unless I tell you to." Akashi ordered with his heterochromatic eyes staring deeply into Kataoka's sapphire ones.

"Will Akashi-san tell me the reason?" Kataoka asked quietly as she lowered her head, she didn't want Akashi to see her startled eyes.

"No, there is no need." Kataoka relaxed her shoulders, knowing she will be free of this suppressing air soon.

"And are there anything else Akashi-san need to talk to me about?" Kataoka asked, eager to be away from the oppressing atmosphere.

"No, you are dismissed."

* * *

With no training sessions, Kataoka found a lot of free time on her hands, she used her time to practice her archery and kendos, practicing the violin, writing and reading.

This particular afternoon, she was practicing archery: Kataoka took careful aim at her target and shot the arrow. It hit the bullseye but wasn't at the centre. Kataoka slumped her shoulders. _My archery skills have really gotten rusty. _

Rubbing her sore neck subconsciously, the girl sighed and started packing the equipment up. She checked the time on her watch: there should be another hour until Umei came back from her swimming practice. _I will devote the rest of my one hour onto kendo then, the kendo championships are coming up soon. _Kataoka thought as she changed into her kendo uniform and retrieved her _shinai _from her bag and started wielding it expertly in her hands.

Her fingers circled like a vice around the grip of the wooden stick and she could feel her full white sleeves glide smoothly as she slashed the air vigorously. Kataoka set up her target and striked endlessly singlehanded aiming for that particular target. Most of the time the target was hit by the tip of her wooden sword, but a few times the wooden sword did not hit the centre of the metal pole—her target. After an hour of drilling, Kataoka rubbed her sore arms and headed for her student apartment in her kendo uniform.

* * *

Umei was already in the living room when Kataoka entered her shared apartment, she was sipping hot chocolate while watching the match between Seirin and Kaijou.

"Umei-san is rather interested with the Seirin and Kaijou match." Kataoka stated as she sat down on a vacant armchair. Umei was obviously unaware of Kataoka's entrance and she jumped upon hearing Kataoka's voice.

"Someday Aki-chan," Umei remarked between hiccups, "you are going to make people die of heart attacks."

Kataoka made no response: she placed her kendo stick with her schoolbag and her sports bag by the armchair and entered the bathroom to take a shower.

"Oh yeah Aki-chan, I feel like tempura today, can you make me some?" Umei asked hopefully as Kataoka closed the bathroom door.

Umei shrugged when Kataoka made no reply, she turned her attention back to the TV screen and immediately started to fan girl how good-looking Kise was.

* * *

Yosh! ~Stretches after finally finishing this story at 11:31 pm at night on the bed~

Sorry guys for the late update, I hit a writer's block and because I kind of forgot what was supposed to happen in the story as I read the KnB manga and decided to change the climax of my story a little.

So in the manga, Akashi comes back! I don't know if any of you know this but I knew it like a few days ago when I got up to chapter 267 or was it 266?

Another reason was: I was planning to write about the party or when Kataoka goes back to Tokyo and meet Kuroko and Kise but unfortunately, even with a plan it didn't quite work well. So yeah…..

Umei Hiromi was actually meant to be someone else but then I just decided on a blur to make Umei substitute another character I was going to add into the fan fiction. So now Umei is dedicated to a friend who gave me the ideas for the plot (which all became useless once I read the KnB manga). I will also be minimising some main characters, I think most of you have noticed, I did not really describe the flow of the game, frankly because I cannot be bothered writing it and I know NO ONE will bother reading it. Now I know this because I came across a writer who bothered to write about every single match and I skipped all of that.

Also, I must excuse myself for my rudeness for not thanking any of my readers, followers, favourite-ers, and reviewers, all of this are greatly appreciated, thank you very much.

(If this entire author's note thing is unnecessary, please tell me)

-Soul


	8. Chapter 8 Umei Ryou's Party

Umei Ryou's Party

Special thanks to aniqa123 for telling me what colour Ogiwara's hair was, I forgot to thank you on my previous chapters so I am thanking you now.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basket or the front the cover although I wish I do, I only own the OCs.

* * *

Kataoka held the hands of her dance partner gently as he swirled her around, her elegant blue dress spread and rose due to the graceful movement.

Excusing herself politely, Kataoka departed from the dance floor and went onto the balcony to have some fresh air. She leaned against the white railings as a cool night wind blew and her hair which was curled into large waves fluttered. Kataoka gazed up to the full moon and sighed. Tonight has been especially exhausting from the fitting of the dress, the styling all the way to meeting Umei's family members, the host—Umei Ryou and the dancing, smiling part of it too. Starting a conversation and humouring people she had never met before really wasn't something Kataoka was particularly fond of. _Well,_ Kataoka thought to herself, _with my misdirection skills I should be fine, it is not like I will be meeting anyone I know here at this party. _However, unbeknownst to Kataoka, her misdirection had already ran out due to her tiredness. Kataoka didn't realise this until a familiar voice reached her ear.

"Kataoka, Kataoka is that you?" A cheery, boyish voice reached the girl's ear and she spun around, her cerulean blue dress which trailed to the floor spreading due to her sudden action.

She could barely believe the sight she saw in front of her, with her shock poorly disguised, a questioning voice escaped from her throat.

"Ogiwara-kun?"

The orange-headed teen nodded and smiled. "It's been a while Kataoka." Kataoka only nodded in response, Ogiwara approached her and leaned against the railings next to the maiden.

"I certainly wasn't expecting you to be here Kataoka." Ogiwara remarked.

"I came here under my dorm mate and my great-aunt's request." Kataoka answered, Ogiwara flashed his usual happy-go-lucky smile.

"Still as formal as before eh? You haven't changed."

"Ogiwara-kun haven't changed either." Kataoka answered flatly.

"Oh yeah," Ogiwara began with a scratch of his head, "you got into the elite school Rakuzan right?" Kataoka nodded silently.

"Which school is Ogiwara-kun in?" Kataoka asked politely, she feels slightly uncomfortable talking to Ogiwara like this.

"I think I will be going to Rakuzan as well." Ogiwara answered with a nod, "Yeah, I will be in Akiyama until Winter Cup finishes I think, well that is what _Chichiue_ told me."

"I see."

A silence descended between them, both of them holding back what they really want to say.

_Seeing her dressed up like this, all of what I usually would say just goes out the window! _Ogiwara thought as he looked at Kataoka from the corner of his eye who was just as absorbed in her own thoughts as Ogiwara.

_I need to tell Ogiwara-kun about Tetsuya-kun's basketball and the fact that I am Rakuzan's basketball manager, it is just…_Kataoka threw a glance at Ogiwara from the corner of her eyes, _would it be too painful for Ogiwara-kun to listen to?_

_Dammit! What can I say? I haven't talked to Akiri since the finals, what if she doesn't want to listen to me? _

_It does not matter, it will haunt me for days if I do not tell Ogiwara-kun now, I will tell him about it._

"Um…" The two said at the exact same time as they turned from looking at the sky to face each other. Ogiwara quickly turned away when he realised how close their faces were.

"Oh, I am sorry, please go first Ogiwara-kun." Kataoka stated calmly with a slight bow of her head, not flustered at all.

"N-No, you go first Kataoka." Ogiwara attempted his usual laid-back attitude.

"Oh okay, Kuroko-kun is playing his basketball now, he is in Seirin, did Ogiwara-kun know about that?"

"Oh yeah I heard from a few of my classmates who are in the basketball team, apparently Seirin won against Kaijou in a practice match."

"Yes, and in Kaijou, there was a _Kiseki no Sedai _member in it, one of Kuroko-kun's former teammate."

This caught Ogiwara's attention immediately. "Who was it?" He asked.

"It was Kise Ryouta, the power forward." Ogiwara nodded upon hearing the name.

"I remember him, wasn't he the one who joined in the second year?"

"Yes and anyway, Kuroko-kun need to play with a 'light', Ogiwara-kun knows about that right?" Ogiwara nodded, "So teamwork is crucial for Kuroko-kun and he managed to beat Kise by two points with his 'light' Kagami Taiga. And I think, Kuroko managed to make Kise-kun understand the power from 'his' basketball which centres around teamwork and now Kise-kun will probably play with teamwork with his teammates."

"That is good, Kuroko is doing well." Ogiwara nodded, remembering his words back in middle school about how Kuroko would be the only one who can defeat and or change the _Kiseki no Sedai_.

"Also, I am Rakuzan's temporary basketball manager." Kataoka answered, noting how her voice had lowered considerably in volume.

"No way! Really?"

"Yes, and Akashi-san is the captain." Kataoka added quietly, then she looked up to the sky.

"I really wish I had met him sooner, before he had a switch." The second line was murmured to herself but Ogiwara heard it loud and clear against the wind.

"What do you mean? The switch?" Ogiwara asked with curiosity.

When the two of them were in junior high, Kataoka would often say how she wish she could meet Akashi Seijuurou, the unproclaimed leader of the _Kiseki no Sedai _and how gifted he was to recognise Kuroko's skill in misdirection. However later on, she became a bit distressed when Kuroko told her that sometimes Akashi seem different, it was as if he was a whole different person, just as stoic and serious but a lot colder and menacing. After watching _Kiseki no Sedai _play in their second year, Ogiwara would often notice Kataoka looking quite troubled and would go to Teikou to visit Kuroko more often. And when Kataoka had seen a match in the Winter Cup played by the _Kiseki no Sedai_ again later on in their second year, she came to school the next day telling Ogiwara that they _changed. _Ogiwara wasn't sure what Kataoka was talking about but he didn't know until he played against them in his third year, it was also after that match that he gave up playing basketball.

"When I said Akashi-san 'switched', I was talking about it more psychologically. I wasn't sure if this was true but I know that Akashi-san is the heir to the large Akashi Corporation company and would always get the best score at school there is. I have never seen Akashi-san not know how to do something and it was believed that his father had started to really push Akashi-san to learn everything there is ever since he was about seven or nine. It was up to the point where even adults would quit but the only person who ever supported him was his gentle mother."

"His mother asked Akashi-san's father to give Akashi-san some free time so Akashi-san just spent that time playing basketball. He was also really good at it and really enjoyed it and thought basketball was the best thing."

"However, Akashi-san's mother died when he was in fifth grade and his father just continued with everything as if her death never mattered. Apparently it was around then when Akashi-san would show signs of having a split personality. His father continued to make him master new things, once something was mastered, he would be made to master something else, resulting in an unhappy childhood."

"Akashi-san entered the prestige middle school—Teikou Junior High which was chosen by his family. He did well in every single subject but continued to be serious and unhappy, in an interview, Akashi-san said that the only thing he really enjoyed at school was playing basketball with his teammates. Kuroko-kun also told me that Akashi-san, while serious and stoic at school, was more opened when it came to basketball. Akashi-san was also the person who realised that Kuroko-kun might had an 'alternative' power and motivated Kuroko-kun to come to me and ask me to help him with his misdirection in basketball. Apparently Akashi-san then was a captain who worried and cared about all the members, he knew so many strategies and was the perfect point guard. That was why I really wanted to meet him then... " Kataoka trailed off as she looked away, there was obviously a lot more to her final sentence. She took a breath before continuing.

"In the second year of junior high was when the _Kiseki no Sedai _really started to bloom, Akashi-san never truly bloomed and due to the school's proper basketball coach going to hospital, the team was only bound by the school's motto: 'even wins' or 'one hundred matches, one hundred wins'. Akashi-san began to lose control of the blooming team and lost confidence over himself, in fact, his unhappiness from childhood never vanished, it was always there with him, it was only when he was playing basketball that he was happy. However, when he began to lose control of the team members, his final shard of happiness disappeared and so did the last pillar of his will. It was then, when Murasakibara-san, the tallest member of the team, I think he is the centre. Complained that he didn't want to come to practices anymore, he said he wanted to know if Akashi-san was strong enough to be listened to." Ogiwara choked in a breath.

"Akashi-san got angry at Murasakibara-san and challenged Murasakibara-san into a one-on-one match: whoever makes the first five shots will win and if Akashi-san won, Murasakibara-san will need to continue coming to the practices. If Murasakibara-san won, then he wouldn't need to come to practices anymore."

"Obviously since Murasakibara-san was a defender with superior height level, long arms and legs and fast reflexes, he managed to block all of Akashi-san's shots. Murasakibara-san made his fourth basket and was going for his fifth when he taunted Akashi-san, saying that he was disappointed that their sharp, strict captain was actually just a really weak player. Akashi-san was really shocked and angry at the comments and it was then when he made a proper 'switch'."

"What do you mean?" Ogiwara asked.

"The 'other' Akashi-san was born, now this Akashi-san possessed the 'Emperor Eye' which allowed him to see every pulse every single movement of his players, so he can technically, predict the future. This Akashi-san asks for absolute obedience, and absolute victory. It is really hard to describe him really, he is a lot more intimidating and is more interested about winning than sportsmanship and teamwork. With the 'Emperor Eye' Akashi-san managed to block Murasakibara-san's final shot and won the match. His intimidating air really frightened Murasakibara-san and he said that he will come to the practices from now on. However, Akashi-san said that there will be no need for any of them to come to practices and there would also be no necessary for teamwork plays between the _Kiseki no Sedai _members. I think it was around then when the _Kiseki no Sedai _really _changed. _Then team members began to compete against each other during matches to see who will score the most, they didn't even care about their opponents at all and the 'other' Akashi-san supported them."

"Some of what I said was what Kuroko-kun told me, some of it was what my great-aunt told me."

"And that Akashi had never switched back to the 'old' Akashi?" Ogiwara asked. "Is it even possible to switch back?"

"Under extreme circumstances—yes, in fact, I believe if Akashi-san was beaten by someone at anything, then the real Akashi would come back. Winning had always been Akashi-san's weakness but because of that, Akashi-san did such a good job at hiding it. Even the 'other' Akashi-san right now, was created from Akashi-san's fatal weakness as he possesses the 'Emperor Eye' which makes him really hard to win against."

"But is it even possible winning against Akashi?" Ogiwara asked, Kataoka smiled faintly before she made her comment.

"Wasn't it Ogiwara-kun who said that the only person who can stand up against the _Kiseki no Sedai _is Kuroko-kun? And besides, if the real Akashi-san liked playing basketball with his teammates so much, then I believe he actually would want the other _Kiseki no Sedai _to beat him."

"Then why don't Kataoka help-" Ogiwara blurted excitedly.

"No," Kataoka shooked her head, "seeing Akashi-san playing his basketball every training session already takes my endurance levels away, and besides, every time I see the 'other' Akashi-san, I get extremely angry." Kataoka murmured gently as she looked at something distant.

"Then why don't you help Kuroko? Then why don't you help Kuroko to defeat Akashi?" Ogiwara voiced out his thoughts. Kataoka spun her head, her sapphire eyes were widened and Ogiwara could see the poorly hidden excitement in the girl's eyes.

"Of course." Kataoka murmured with a vague smile on her face as she looked down at the railings, then she looked up at Ogiwara and her face broke into a smile.

"Even though Ogiwara-kun may not look like it but Ogiwara-kun can be smart at times" Kataoka stated with a smiling face.

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

* * *

Kataoka was looking at the paintings in the hallways when she heard approaching footsteps coming from behind her. She turned around and locked gazes with a pair of familiar heterochromatic eyes of ruby-red and topaz-yellow.

"A…kashi-san." Kataoka greeted, she had not expected him to come to this party.

"Good evening Akiri, I never knew you would be coming to this sort of party." Akashi remarked, his intimidating eyes glaring into Kataoka's blank sapphire ones.

"Umei-san invited me to this party." Kataoka answered calmly, seemingly unperturbed by the suppressing air around her. _I need to hold it in…_Kataoka thought, _stay calm, do not get intimidated. _Thankfully, she hid her mask well and Akashi didn't make any comments about Kataoka's emotions. After a few moments of silence, Kataoka decided to break away and excused herself from the situation.

As soon as Kataoka entered the party room, she was immediately surrounded by men ranging from late teens to early twenties asking her for her dance. With her hands folded neatly on her lap, Kataoka gently shooked her head.

"I am sorry but I must humbly decline." Kataoka stated with an incline of her head and the people around her soon scattered. Kataoka tried to hide away from the crowd and only sat at a chair by walls as she watched people waltz to the classical music. She yawned, it was past midnight already and she would be attending school tomorrow. Thankfully, Umei arrived just in time with her brother: Umei Ryou in tow and Kataoka was brought back to her apartment.

* * *

Yosh! -Somehow I always seemed to be writing these chapters on my bed, at least the last sentence anyway-

Hey guys, this chapter was pretty quick, I was planning to properly introduce Umei's mother and her brother but then it wasn't really necessary so I didn't.

To people who have never read the manga and never really knew about Akashi's past, sorry for all these spoilers but I am sure most of you would've known anyway from reading his profile…maybe?

Also I think Chichiue means dad in the impolite way, tell me if I misspelt it, I just put it down on a sudden impulse.

The story is a bit slow I guess, I will definitely add more Akashi x OC moments in the next chapter but….sorry, I can't spoil the story for you. It is just *sigh* I am not really patient when I can't get into the main plot and get the story or the romance fully started.

Also, this story probably won't be centred around the GoM too much as too many characters just gives this amateur writer a headache and a heavy burden.

Criticise, review, follow or favourite for the extreme generous.

-Soul

P.S. Thanks to all those people who actually bothered to read my story, even if you didn't write anything, it is fine, at the moment I am 'trying' to find a day when most people will read my stories.

An obvious 'thankyou' to those people who left comments, followed or favourite the book or myself, you guys really motivate me you know!


	9. Chapter 9 Preliminaries

Chapter Nine: Preliminaries

_Seirin scored their final basket and won the preliminary finals, the crowd cheered. A first-year Seirin player in his no. 11 jersey smiled faintly to himself as he fist pumped with a taller, first-year Seirin player with a no. 10 jersey. Their second-year clutch shooter captain, Hyuuga Junpei patted the two on their back before pushing up the oval glasses sitting on his nose._

"_Yosh! Now we are going to our next match!" Hyuuga declared as he wiped the sweat off his forehead, his spikey black hair slightly damp from perspiration. _

"_Nice shot Hyuuga!" The eagle-eyed point guard, Izuki Shun smiled at his best friend. Hyuuga was about to smile back when Izuki cracked another pun which made his eyebrows raise with irritation._

"_Izuki!" Hyuuga walked up to the bench and threw the aforementioned player an empty drink bottle which the latter caught expertly. "Fill this bottle with water and don't come back!"_

"_Nice job everyone!" The second-year brunette coach smiled as she stood up and handed them their jackets._

"_Let's go!" Hyuuga ordered as they left the court, the team was leaving the stadium when a soft voice was spoken._

"_Um excuse me," No. 11 with his pastel blue hair raised his hand as he suddenly materialised out of nowhere, causing all the people around him nearly suffering a heart attack._

"_Urgh! Kuroko! What is it?" Kuroko's friend, No.10, also called Kagami Taiga asked him. _

"_I need to meet someone, please go home without me." Kuroko explained with an expressionless face and a toneless voice._

"_Oh if it is that, then don't worry about it Kuroko." Hyuuga stated as he rubbed his neck, "We'll wait for you."_

"_There is no need because I will be there for a long time, please go ahead without me." Kuroko repeated._

"_If that is the case then we'll go, bye Kuroko!" The team chorused as Kuroko walked away, wondering who this anti-social player might be meeting._

* * *

"It has been a long time Akiri-san." Kuroko greeted upon seeing a familiar figure leaning against a lamppost reading a foreign book.

"Tetsuya-kun played well and hard in this match, Tetsuya-kun's presence is rather visible." Kataoka stated as she shut the thick book with a snap, Kuroko said nothing, knowing there was a lot more to be said for his cousin to send him a text message.

"I met Ogiwara-kun a few days ago and he told me a few things which encouraged me." Kuroko's azure blue eyes widened by a mere fraction, Kataoka glanced down at the gravel and shuffled her feet.

"I am in Rakuzan High with Akashi-san and I am also Rakuzan basketball team's manager while Akashi-san is the captain." Kuroko just nodded subtly.

"Well, I want to help Tetsuya-kun with his 'basketball' and spread it among all the other _Kiseki no Sedai, _not just Kise-kun." Kataoka glanced up from the ground and met Kuroko's blank sky-blue eyes with her sapphire ones before looking down again.

"Obviously there are many reasons for this, one: because I was the one who told you to play your own 'basketball' and show them the power of it. Two: well, it is to make me feel less guilty for not warning Tetsuya-kun enough. Three: I want to meet the other Akashi-san. Four: personally, I quite like Tetsuya-kun's 'basketball' because that is how basketball should be played: the teamwork." Kataoka stared shamelessly into Kuroko's eyes.

"I know all of these reasons seem pretty selfish and I might seem lame that I am helping Tetsuya-kun now because Seirin seems to be winning. In truth it was just because Ogiwara-kun gave me the encouragement to do it and because I am on my last straw enduring Rakuzan's basketball." Kuroko nodded.

"However, I truly do want to help Tetsuya-kun, it is about time I got over what happened in middle school anyway, so will Tetsuya-kun allow me to help you?" Kataoka asked with a serious face but Kuroko could see the hope in her usual glassy eyes, he smiled.

Kuroko approached his cousin and gently patted the petite girl on the head.

"Akiri-san still likes basketball even though she is trying to hide it." Kuroko stated with a faint smile, answering the request with an unsaid 'yes'.

"I still prefer kendo but the crowd, the rush of adrenalin you shoot a basket, and the joy when you win with the team. I like it very much but I do not think I will ever get the liberty of ever experiencing it in a team." A flicker of sadness flashed across Kataoka's face. The two sat down.

"Akiri-san still has trouble trusting people?" Kuroko asked, Kataoka nodded and a moment of silence passed between them.

"When will Kuroko-kun be free on the weekends?" Kataoka asked.

"We have practice on weekends so maybe Akiri-san can come to those practices, I will ask my coach, but beside that I am free ever weekend from four pm." Kuroko answered seriously.

"Akiri-san really should meet the Seirin team, all of them are really good people." Kuroko suggested seriously. Kataoka nodded with a faint smile upon recalling Seirin's match against Kise.

"I know."

Silence descended between the two teenagers as Kataoka leaned against Kuroko, the two had no romance passed between them so neither of them were uncomfortable at the intimacy.

"Speaking of which, how did Akiri-san become the manager for Rakuzan?" Kuroko questioned suddenly out of the blue.

"I joined a committee called the Staff-Assistance Committee when you help out the staff. I would've joined the kendo club but something made me sign up for that specific group. The basketball team's coach Shirogane Eiji-sensei saw my name on this roll and put my name down as a temporary manager for the team. I think I did an okay job." Kuroko smiled, an 'okay job' for Kataoka would usually be an amazing job.

"However…recently, Akashi-san told me to stop coming to practice, it did not seem he was particularly mad at me, I am not sure really. But 'this' Akashi-san is really intimidating and skilful, I sort of understood why Akashi-san had a split personality, what he was trained to do is…unbelievable." Kuroko smiled faintly in response.

"I am not surprised, let us get going Akiri-san." Kuroko stated as he stood up, pulling his cousin up with him and the two made their way to the bus stop.

"Also, today is Monday and Rakuzan is in Kyoto. Did Akiri-san skip a few lessons upon coming to Tokyo by train?" Kuroko asked when the two arrived at the stop, Kataoka nodded.

"It was Health and PE, because we are doing dance for PE at the moment and are studying human development for Health, I decided to skip the lessons. I already told the teachers beforehand, as long as I pass the Health test above 90% and can dance my part with my partner at a satisfactory level, then it will be fine for me to miss some of my lessons." Kataoka answered softly, looking up at the starry sky.

"I see," Kuroko chuckled, "Akiri-san never liked dancing with a partner because of the hand-holding part and human development always seemed to intrude Akiri-san's privacy." Kataoka frowned slightly.

"It is true." She answered seriously.

The bus arrived and the two of them entered the bus.

* * *

"_Remember, I will always support Tetsuya-kun's basketball…"_

_The young girl with chest-length black hair placed her arms behind her and looked up at the falling sakura trees for a minute before turning around and faced him with a gentle smile…._

Kuroko opened his eyes with a sigh and met the bright morning sunshine seeping through the white billowing curtains. He glanced at the clock on the bedside table. _That dream…_he thought as he sat up from his bed and gazed at the draping, translucent curtains blown by the spring zephyr.

The door was opened, a woman with the same hair colour as Kuroko smiled by the door.

"Tetsuya, it is time for breakfast, get yourself ready." The woman said with a gentle face.

"Yes Okaa-san." Kuroko said in reply as he stood up in his white pyjama top and blue pyjama shorts and began to make his bed.

Kuroko changed into his usual school uniform with a white tee, black blazer lined with blue and matching black pants. He tried to smooth down his messy bed hair with his hands failingly until his grandmother on his father's side smoothed it down gently but firmly with her wrinkled hands.

"Thankyou Obaasan." Kuroko murmured as the smiling old woman walked into the kitchen to have their breakfast.

"Tetsuya hurry up, otherwise you will be late, here: your lunch." Kuroko's mother handed him his bento box and stuffed a slice of jam-on-toast in Kuroko's mouth and pushed him gently out the kitchen.

"It is almost the mid-terms isn't it?" Kuroko's mother Takagi Yukari asked as Kuroko put on his school shoes.

"Yes, it will be the mid-terms in about two weeks and a half." Kuroko answered seriously as he lifted up his shoulder-bag.

"Work hard but I suspect it will probably be average again." Yukari said with mock tease as she placed her hands on her hips.

"I will work hard." Kuroko said lamely as he opened the door, "Ittekimasu."

"Have a safe trip." Yukari said warmly as she gently pushed down a few stray pieces of hair which stood up.

"Yes, bye." Kuroko responded with a slight wave as he ran off with a piece of toast in mouth.

* * *

"Ne, Aki-chan, you seem to be in a good mood today." Umei observed upon seeing a livelier pair of sapphire eyes scanning over the to-be-handed-in essay.

"Is that so?" Kataoka asked as she looked up from her neatly written essay.

"Yep," Umei replied with a grin, "you look really happy. Is it because you missed out Health and PE yesterday?"

"That might be the case…." Kataoka answered as her attention went back to the essay, Umei glanced over Kataoka's shoulder and read the piece.

"Whoa, this is really good. Are you going to give it to the library as an entry to the Rakuzan writing contest?" Umei asked loudly.

After a few seconds of silence, Kataoka quickly nodded, then she leant in Umei's ear a little desperately.

"But _please _don't tell anyone I wrote it." Kataoka begged, an uncharacteristic panic passed the maiden's fair face. Umei shrugged.

"Fine I won't tell anyone." Kataoka's tensed shoulders still did not relax.

"Promise?"

"Fine, promise." It was then that Kataoka relaxed her stiff shoulders and allowed herself to exhale a sigh of relief.

* * *

Practice was finished for the day and Akashi rubbed his sore neck as he changed into a dry t-shirt and navy tracksuits. Mibuchi, the shooting guard with chin-length black hair brushed his hair behind his ears as he turned to his captain and voiced a question which was bugging him for a long time.

"Ne Sei-chan," Mibuchi began, Akashi turned to look at the player standing next to him, towering over him for more than ten centimetres.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Why haven't Kata-tan being coming to the practices? At first I thought she had other duties but she haven't been here for almost a week, even on weekends, surely there must be a reason for this."

"Yeah Akashi," the snuggle-toothed Hayama Kotarou cut in. "I haven't seen A-chan for a long time, what happened?" He asked goofily, his annoying and over energetic attitude did not change.

"I told her to stop coming to the practice until I ask her to." Akashi answered coldly.

"Why?" Hayama and Mibuchi asked at the same time. Akashi turned and looked at them coolly.

"There are reasons, and besides, she gave me her clipboard so we can follow what is needed just fine. There is no need for her at the moment." Akashi explained coolly.

"But…" Nebuya, the buffy centre who was still chewing on Kataoka's specially made pork sandwiches cut in.

"Kataoka's sandwiches are running out and it is annoying to do the things she used to do for us by ourselves." Nebuya stated.

All the members in the Rakuzan changing rooms immediately gulped when Nebuya made his remark. What he said was very, very wrong. Akashi turned menacingly at Nebuya, his heterochromatic eyes glittering dangerously.

"Eikichi, are you going against my order?"

Everyone in the room began to sweat as they crossed their fingers for Nebuya's permit to live. _Kami-sama…please….make that Nebuya idiot's answer be an answer Akashi will accept._

"Alright Akashi, I wasn't meant to do that." Nebuya answered with poorly concealed fear. The supreme Akashi gave him a one last judging look before turning to the door and departed from the room. Everyone exhaled a sigh of relief when Akashi left. _Thankyou Kami-sama, although Nebuya's answer wasn't very smart at least Akashi was more lenient today._

* * *

Akashi was walking past the music rooms when he heard a familiar tune coming from one of the rooms. Although he had no idea where he heard this song from, he quickened his footsteps and stopped at the doorway of one room. He heard the sound of a bow on the strings of a violin and then he heard a soft melodic voice singing the lyrics when the violin stopped playing:

"**In my long forgotten cloistered sleep,** **you and I were resting close in peace." **

A shock of nausea shook over Akashi's body as something deep within his conscious suddenly remembered a snippet of his past.

_This song…I remember her now…_

"**Was it just the dreaming of my heart?"**

_Under the afternoon sunlight, a girl whom I cannot see the face of sang this song at the bottom of a small hill, while playing her violin._

"**Now I'm crying I don't know why."**

_It was so rare to see someone my age at such a high social event, it was my first time properly seeing someone my age._

"**Where do all the tears come from? To my eyes."**

_I was really curious as to who this person may be and her personality so I sat down on the grass and listened to her sing._

"**Could no one ever dry up this spring?"**

_She sounded extremely vulnerable yet gentle at the same time, I was curious to see her face so I stood up, hoping to get a glimpse of her complexion._

"**If you find me crying in the dark, please call my name from the heart."**

_I slowly walked down the hill, my shoes slipping against the damp grass, and then I slipped and fell to the bottom of the hill._

"**Sing with me a tiny autumn song."**

_The violin ceased to play as the girl slowly turned around and saw me laying in the grass. Her back was to the sun when she looked at me with wonder and then knelt down and extended a hand._

"_That hill is very slippery, you should come down using that route." She said as she pointed to a small path, a small patchwork of small pebbles and rocks._

"**Weep me melodies of the days gone by."**

_She helped me stand up and bowed deeply._

"_My name is Kataoka Akiri, what may yours be?"_

"_My name is Akashi Seijuurou." I replied._

"**Dress my body all in flowers white,"**

_She smiled gently at me, her eyes shining with innocence._

"_I am pleased to meet you Akashi-san."_

"**So no mortal eye can see."**

_I really didn't expect the first girl I meet to be Kataoka Akiri and I am sure Kataoka was surprised to meet a boy as serious as me. The two of us were never really close as we only met each other once before Kataoka's father died and she disappeared from the higher societies forever._

* * *

Hey guys,

This might be the first time I completed a chapter NOT on my bed but this time I typed it on a laptop while sitting on a chair.

So I hope you guys realised that this chanced encounter was not a love-at-first-sight encounter by the way it was described. Also, if you guys were following my stories well enough, you will know WHO was the one narrating this final part of the chapter. I think if you check chapter one I dropped a few hints there. And here…just figure it out for yourself, I will explain it in the later chapters anyway. (Hopefully, remind me if I forget)

Hope this chapter wasn't too bad, I have been working like a robot for the last few days. Also, school is starting so my updates will be slower.

Thanks to all the readers, reviewers, followers and favourite-ers, all of the views, reviews, favourites and follows I get encourage me to work harder. My faithful followers, you guys are really the best! I know it sounds lame and you guys can so tell that I am an amateur writer now but every time in my inbox I see someone following my story, a review, a favourite or anything, I feel happy knowing that at least there are a group of people who appreciate my work.

-Soul

P.S. Please criticise but NO insults please, if any of you guys are going to go:"Can you not write?" or "You are the worst writer I have never seen."

I will seriously...hmm...stab you with Akashi's scissors, how's that?


	10. Chapter 10 Kataoka's Past

Chapter 10 Memories & Seirin Training

Thankyou to all who are following and/or favourite-ing this story or myself. Your support is very much appreciated. Also thanks to the people who reviewed.

* * *

"_You are a kind child Akiri, you have gained many of your father's gentle, loving qualities and the highly dignified manner your mother carries herself in. I enjoy teaching you Akiri." The beautiful middle-aged lady announced softly as she leaned back on the exquisite seat and took a sip of the expensive tea, carefully made by the young girl's gentle hands._

_The young girl gazed seriously into her great-aunt's dark hazel eyes, her eyes were devoid of emotions as she fiddled with her violin. At the tender age of five, the young girl had lived a life of unending tutoring lessons from her father, great-aunt, and experienced teachers. She would often accompany her father at high-classed social functions and would often look forward to spending time with her constantly-away father._

"_Akiri, to appease a person whom you just met, it is not a matter of spilling never-ending information about yourself which may or may not be personal. To an adult, if they are trying to find out anything about our family or anything personal, a polite 'I don't know' will be fine. However, if it is just about you, snippets of interesting yet unimportant information would be good. Best if they were true. To stay on the good side of a person your age, tell him or her a few of your hobbies or your favourite subjects. Never expect anything from them and remember, never use the word 'friend' carelessly. In fact Akiri, in this world, only a few people are your true friends Akiri. Do not trust anyone so easily, in fact, do not even trust me." The lady dressed in an elaborate kimono smiled mysteriously as she brought the newly-poured tea to her lips and sighed._

"_My, my Akiri, your tea-serving skills have gotten better, you will be able to graduate soon. Your Japanese dancing and flower arranging have improved a bit as well. Your calligraphy is above average. We will move our cooking lessons for later as we wouldn't want to injure you. Also, your makeup skills, hair styling and colour matching for the clothes levels are increasing. In academics, you are at least a year ahead of the children at prestige elementary schools. In the arts, you are naturally gifted with music and singing. Your painting skills are slightly lacking in the western style but generally speaking, in art you are still quite good. Geography and science are a year ahead. History, ancient texts and foreign languages are excellent, at least two years ahead of students from prestige schools. Athletics and soccer are excellent." Akiri's great-aunt smiled after reading the young girl's report cards from her several teachers._

"_Now Akiri, every children need some free time other than just reading and writing, why don't I introduce you to another sport?" The young girl looked up from her violin and into her great-aunt's hazel eyes, full of mystery._

"_What sport would it be Grand-Aunt?" It was the first time when she had spoken since that morning._

"_I was thinking about kendo and archery, Japanese traditional sports, I heard that you went to the dojo a few days ago and took an interest to swords. I am guessing it is because of their connection to samurais right?" The girl did not answer, a trait her great-aunt was used to._

"_So I have decided to invite a friend of mine to teach you the basics, then you can polish your skills on your own." The great-aunt saw her great-niece's usually empty sapphire eyes widen and sparkle with the prospect of doing something on her own and smiled._

"_Well you wouldn't want Heita-san to wait for you, now hurry and go to the dojo, Heita-san have already prepared the kendo uniform and a small enough _shinai_ for you."_

"_Thankyou Grand-Aunt!" The girl bowed and walked quietly out of the room, shutting the rice-paper door quietly as a mark of her departure._

_The young girl quickly ran to the dojo, eager with the prospect of having a kendo lesson. She removed her shoes and entered the dojo. There was already a man sitting on the wooden floor with a small _shinai_ in his hands. Upon hearing approaching footsteps, looked up and smiled at the petite figure._

"_You must be Kataoka Akiri-san, I am Heita Toshio, Akiri-san's teacher. Please get changed into this uniform and then we can get started." Heita-sensei said politely with a smiling face, the young girl nodded, she quickly changed and was soon ready for her lesson._

"_Akiri-san, you must hold your _shinai _like this and swing it like this." The young girl's teacher, Heita-sensei demonstrated as he held his kendo stick expertly in his coarse hands. _

"_Good Akiri-san, very good!" The man in his early thirties praised as he watched his student copying perfectly his movements. He sighed sadly when he realised the first fundamental have been taught and soon there will be no more need for his existence there anymore._

"_Akiri-san, in kendo, how we slash and hit is very important." Heita-sensei pointed to a target pinned to the wall, "Can Akiri-san, hit the bullseye over there."_

"_No I cannot Heita-sensei." The young girl answered seriously and honestly._

"_At least give it a try." Heita-sensei encouraged. The girl nodded and took the stance Heita-sensei had taught her. She ran to the target with the kendo stick held low in her hands and once she made a rough calculation of the distance and thought the distance was close enough. Raised her _shinai _a tried to point to the bullseye. However her hand twitched and pointed to the third most-inner ring instead._

"_Good try Akiri-san, perhaps it would be good to take some martial arts lessons to give you more flexibility and control over weapons." With a slight red face due to her embarrassment, the girl nodded her head._

"_Let's take a break!" Heita-sensei announced as he approached the entrance of the dojo and his student followed. His bag was leaning near the entrance and he pulled out a simple bento box. He then departed from the dojo and sat near the veranda, enjoying the cool spring breeze. His coarse hands opened the bento box and revealed rather plain snacks inside._

"_Hey Akiri-san, would you like some?" Heita-sensei offered with a smiling face. The girl nodded, her sapphire eyes surprised and happy at the kind gesture and sat down next to her teacher, looking at the beautifully made Japanese garden._

_Heita-sensei handed the girl a pair of plain chopsticks and he picked a piece of omelette from the box and popped it in his mouth. The girl stared down at the food, inexperienced at sharing food with someone. Upon seeing his student not eating, Heita-sensei scratched his head._

"_Oh would you want to eat back at the Kataoka kitchens? Sorry, I didn't think about that, these food might be a bit boring and plain to you right?" Heita-sensei asked, somewhat embarrassed. The girl's eyes immediately widened as she extended her hands as a stop sign and shooked her head._

"_No, no, no, that is not true Heita-sensei. I am actually quite happy at the offer….it is just my first time eating like this." The young girl explained, worry laced around her soft voice._

_Heita-sensei smiled at the uncharacteristic emotion anxiety which flashed across his composed student's face. He placed his large hands on the girl's head and ruffled her silky raven hair. _

"_I am glad." Heita-sensei said gently as he let go of the girl's head and returned to his food._

_The young girl gazed at her teacher with admiration. _'Heita-sensei is just like Otou-san, Okaa-san and Tetsuya-kun and a few of my other family members on Okaa-san's side. They are all so nice and trustworthy.'

_That evening when the young girl returned to the dinner halls for dinner, she was in a happier mood. Even though living at the Kataoka Mansions was hard without her family members around and the only person she was a bit familiar with was her great-aunt, which she wasn't sure whether she trusted her or not. The girl suddenly saw a shard of light in her dull, harsh life. That night, she opened her tall windows and looked up to the starless sky and smiled as she looked at the half-moon._

"_I won't make a wish about me getting sent away tonight, I am actually happy now, at the Kataoka Mansions."_

"Aki-chan?" Umei prodded the sleeping Kataoka with the end of her mechanical pencil. The girl didn't stir as she leaned on the arms of her sofa, face angelic and peaceful as she mumbled words in her sleep.

"Aki-chan…"

Umei's face softened upon seeing her dorm mate looking so gentle and innocent. She retrieved a spare blanket from her bedroom and gently eased Kataoka into a more comfortable position on the long sofa. She draped a blanket over the girl's small frame and left the living room.

_Aki-chan must have been tired today, she left at about seven am in the morning with the breakfast made and when I came back at about 2 am from a social function, she was fast asleep in the living room with the dinner prepared. I wonder what caused her to be so physically drained…_

Little did Umei know what Kataoka did this Saturday:

Saturday—the morning

Kataoka checked her silver watch: 7:15, two more hours until she arrive at Tokyo. She sighed as she watched the scenery outside the windows: the urban areas were quickly replaced with rice paddies. Kataoka yawned, she was really tired, especially since Akashi had suddenly decided on a blur yesterday—Friday—to make her come back to manage the team again. He had no explanation or any sort of apology, he just stopped next to her desk when she was reading during break and told her that she had to return to the practice—today.

The team was just progressing as usual and Kataoka found herself sighing to herself again and again as Mayuzumi just made really normal plays for the entire practice match between the first strings. _I really do not know the reason for Mayuzumi-senpai's entry into the first strings, but I know there are definitely more to him than what meets the eye._

Kataoka sat back in her soft chair and closed her eyes temporarily as she tried to think up of a plan for her tomorrow on Sunday, however a child's voice soon interrupted her train of thought.

"Oh look, it is Mt. Fuji!" A child's voice cried, Kataoka's head immediately zipped to the window and smiled at the innocence of the child's remark.

Kataoka checked her time: 8: 35 already, she was going to set an alarm for nine-fifteen and sleep until then. With that, Kataoka leaned against the window and fell asleep, almost instantly.

When Kataoka woke up, there was still ten more minutes for the ride from Kyoto to Tokyo. The scenery outside was slowly turning urban as they entered the more populated zone of Tokyo. Kataoka slipped on her headphones and played her favourite violin pieces at the softest volume possible as she waited for their arrival of the destination.

* * *

"Akiri-san," Kuroko Tetsuya, Kataoka's sky-blue haired cousin greeted upon seeing his raven-haired cousin departing from the main Tokyo station.

"Tetsuya-kun," Kataoka greeted with a slight nod, she dragged her headphones to rest on her neck and brushed her long thigh-length hair back.

"Have Tetsuya-kun told the other Seirin members my arrival today?" Kataoka asked, hoping that her cousin will nod and say yes to save most of the introduction.

"I am sorry Akiri-san," Kuroko replied sadly with a shook of his head, "I am afraid I simply forgot."

* * *

"WHAT?" All the Seirin High School Basketball members-with the exception of Kuroko and Kagami Taiga: Kuroko's 'light'—shrieked upon hearing that the famous Kataoka Akiri was Kuroko's cousin.

_Damn you Kuroko, why do you have such a pretty cousin?! And the famous Kataoka Akiri of all people? _All the Seirin members—again with the exception of Kuroko and Kagami—thought upon seeing Kataoka dressed in simple clothing but still eye-catching as ever.

"Er…sorry about this but who is Kataoka Akiri?" The tall, boisterous first-year and the ace of the team, Kagami Taiga asked as he scratched the back of his head.

Everyone in the room—excluding Kataoka and Kuroko—had their mouth hitting the floor.

"You don't know who Kataoka-chan is? Of course you wouldn't you _Bakagami_!" Hyuuga Junpei, the captain and the clutch shooter of the team reprimanded as he slapped Kagami on the back.

"As Kagami Taiga-san was in America, I would not be surprised if Kagami-san did not know what I used to be." All heads turned to the owner of the soft voice.

"Huh? You know Kagami?" Koganei Shinji, the second-year with the cat-mouth asked. Kataoka nodded solemnly.

"I do not wish to waste anymore of everyone's precious time so I shall make myself brief: I am here to assist Seirin High School to become the best in Japan. Obviously I have my reasons for doing this but please be noted that I am also the manager of Rakuzan High School, I am sure we will meet one day at the basketball tournaments." The girl bowed deeply as the silence filled the entire room.

* * *

Wah! Sorry guys for the super late update. I am so tired so I am just gonna leave it there…I could've worked on it more, I just didn't want to keep most people waiting. How long has it been since my last chapter?

For this chapter I just kept on deleting it and writing it and etc. etc….but here it is. I am sorry if it was a bit unexciting, I did quite like the part about Kataoka's past. I am really sorry for my slow progress at introducing the other characters. I bet you guys just sometimes forget I introduced some people at all. Not your fault, I just need to learn to make my crucial characters more memorable.

Read, comment, follow or favourite for the extreme generous.

-Soul

P.S. The newest chapter for Kuroko no Basket: chapter 270 something came out about a week ago, gonna read soon….


	11. Chapter 11 Seirin Training Sessions

Chapter Eleven Seirin Training Sessions

Kataoka nodded approvingly upon seeing Seirin High School basketball's coach, Aida Riko, a female second-year of Seirin High School lead the team through the daily drills. Her slim violin fingers subconsciously began to scribble things down on her clipboard as the brunette blew her pink whistle and shouted to the team members, giving them suggestions to overcome their hurdles. Soon it was break and Kataoka quickly handed the towels to the exhausted basketball players. Most of them jumped while gaping with fear at her sudden appearance-very much similar to her cousin Kuroko and their shared, blank expression.

"You," Izuki Shun, the eagle-eyed point guard and a great lover of puns commented while trying to conceal the cough he got from Kataoka's sudden appearance while he was drinking water.

"Are you sure you two are not siblings? You two are so similar it is not even funny." Izuki remarked between coughs. Kataoka cocked her head, her long black hair slightly falling to one side.

"We are cousins and both of us knows misdirection." Kataoka stated, saying the obvious.

"Actually, Kataoka-san knew misdirection before me so she was the one who taught me the fundamentals of misdirection for me to use in basketball." Kuroko explained as he suddenly popped out behind Izuki and the point guard continued his coughing.

Kataoka quickly caught Kuroko's pale blue eyes, sending a message through her eyes: _Tetsuya-kun have said too much. _Even though everyone missed that line.

"How long were you there for?" Hyuuga Junpei, who was standing next to Izuki jerked upon witnessing Kuroko's appearance.

"I was here ever since Kataoka-san handed Izuki-senpai his towel." Kuroko explained with a blank expression, his tone as bland as ever.

Kuroko quickly caught Kataoka's emotionless sapphire eyes: _I am sorry Akiri-san but I would have to say it sooner or later._

Mitobe Rin, the silent defender saw the two messages sent between the cousins but made no gesture of witnessing the action and continued to sip on his drink bottle.

* * *

Riko quickly approached Kataoka once practice was resumed and the two sat next to each other on the wooden stage, their legs hanging off the stage as they chatted.

"Kataoka-chan," Riko placed an arm on Kataoka, "how much do you know about coaching and basketball?" Kataoka turned her stony sapphire eyes to the coach of the team before answering.

"I can tell a person's overall ability level by looking at a person and seeing the person play. I can also improve a basketball player's overall ability by training them and making them do certain things. I am not a coach but a mere manager at Rakuzan and the captain of the team at the moment is mostly doing fine without my help." Kataoka answered seriously as her eyes returned to the paper clipped on her clipboard.

"Who is the captain of Rakuzan?" Riko asked, obviously curious.

"Another fellow _Kiseki no Sedai,_" Riko immediately stiffened, "But he is the least of Seirin's worries at the moment, Seirin probably will not meet him and will not need to meet him yet. Seirin's next opponent Seiho, one of the basketball Kings of Tokyo, is it not? And afterwards, Seirin is going to go against Shuutoku, a team with a _Kiseki no Sedai _member. _If Seirin wins the Seiho match._" Kataoka answered nonchalantly as she scribbled something down her clipboard.

"Aida-senpai is pretty good at coaching the team members, I would have expected arrogance to be brewing in Seirin by now due to their successes but Aida-senpai managed it well." Kataoka complimented Riko seriously with the faintest trace of a smile ghosting her fine features. Riko nodded seriously.

"Inter-High is no joke and besides…" Riko's mouth stretched into an evil grin, "If Seirin loses, I am going to make all the guys confess to the girl they like butt-naked." Riko announced triumphantly.

Kataoka's sapphire orbs widened by a mere fraction before quickly hiding her smile behind her clipboard.

"That is a very good strategy to use Aida-senpai." Riko's wide grin quickly faltered when a question popped into her head.

"Oh that reminds me," Riko turned to the diligent girl writing things down her clipboard, "Kataoka-chan, why did you choose to help us and why are you the manager of Rakuzan?"

Kataoka quickly put her clipboard down with a slight frown, there were some questions she would rather not answer.

"I chose to help Seirin for my own selfishness and I chose to manage Rakuzan's team due to my own arrogance." Kataoka answered, shocking both Riko and herself, she hadn't expected her reply to be so harsh towards herself. But, she shrugged internally, it is better thinking the worst about yourself than the best, then you won't get disappointed. Besides, her motives for helping Seirin and Rakuzan had not been pure, why bother explaining when it is easier to assume the worst?

"And what of your selfishness, what can you gain by helping us?" Riko pressed, Kataoka gave Riko a sideward glance.

"If Seirin was to defeat Rakuzan in the Inter-High or Winter Cup, I would probably be able to help Kuroko-kun and rinse away some of the guilt I feel. I would probably also be able to meet the person I wanted to meet since middle school and answer unanswered questions. Do not worry, I will not say anything about Seirin to Rakuzan but Aida-senpai should not expect me to tell Seirin anything about Rakuzan either." Riko was extremely perplexed, she understood the last part of Kataoka's explanation but the girl's reason for helping Seirin, still…perplexed her.

"However Aida-senpai," Kataoka's sharp sapphire eyes stared deep into the brunette's brown eyes, "please do not tell anyone what I just told Aida-senpai. I do not know if I have proved my innocence as a mere helper with my answer, but I sincerely hope Aida-senpai will forget what I said so I will not burden Seirin any further with my troubles, please excuse me."

Kataoka stood up from the stage, unclipping the paper from her clipboard and leaving it on the wooden floorboards as she quietly left the stage. As she reached the exit of the gym, Kataoka quickly turned around to add onto what she forgotten.

"Oh yes, and Seirin includes, Kuroko-kun. Please do not repeat any of what I just said to Kuroko-kun either, it will only trouble him. I am sorry for troubling Aida-senpai as well, I should have made my answers vaguer." Kataoka bowed deeply before departing from the gym, closing herself temporarily from the practice inside the building.

* * *

"Kagami-kun," The tall, tanned redhead Kagami Taiga jolted upon hearing a voice from behind him and turned around seeing his 'shadow' partner with his younger cousin.

"Kataoka-san and I are going to Maji Burgers, would Kagami-kun like to come as well? Kataoka-san would also like to ask Kagami-kun some questions." Kuroko explained flatly.

"Maji Burgers huh?" Kagami scratched the back of his head, "sure, just wait til I finish." Kagami requested as he ripped his sweaty basketball shirt off and rummaged in his bag for his spare shirt, Kataoka didn't look away as she identified the muscles on Kagami's chest and began her mental calculations. Although she wore her usual blank mask, Kuroko could tell that Kataoka's mind was drifting some place far, far away.

* * *

The waitress came up to Kagami-as Kataoka and Kuroko were unseen—when the three of them entered the restaurant.

"Er….fifteen cheeseburgers, a vanilla shake and er…" Kagami turned around and found his nose a centimetre apart from Kataoka's.

"And a green tea Frappuccino please." Kataoka added, scaring the wits out of the young waitress who immediately scribbled something down and ran to the kitchens.

* * *

"So this girl taught you misdirection?" Kagami asked, poorly hidden shock in his tone as he glanced down at the fragile-looking, petite girl quietly sipping her caffeine-free, green tea Frappuccino.

"Yes Kagami-kun." Kuroko replied seriously, chunks of cheeseburger flew out of Kagami's mouth in a graceful arc.

"And also Kagami-kun, please cover your mouth or try to speak without your mouth full," Kuroko added, flicking away a piece of cheeseburger off the cap of his vanilla shake, "it is disgusting." He explained placidly.

"Sorry," Kagami quickly wiped his mouth and then grinned at the elegant girl sitting across from him, silent during the entire conversation.

"Then that means you are bound to be good right?" Kagami asked with an excited grin, Kataoka adverted her attention from somewhere outside the window to the tall, uncouth redhead.

"I have less experience with basketball when compared with Kuroko-kun but my fundamentals are better." Kataoka stated honestly while Kuroko tried to pain he received from having salt rubbed into old wounds.

"Have Kagami-san ever gave defeating the _Kiseki no Sedai _a _proper _thought other than thinking about just purely dunking the ball, passing it and receiving it?" Kataoka asked, she was unsurprised when Kagami answered straightforwardly with a shameless 'no'.

"Well, at the moment, Seirin might just have an upper advantage as the other _Kiseki no Sedai _have forgotten the original 'basketball' but that still does not mean the teams with the _Kiseki no Sedai _will be easy to beat. Kagami-san has the potential to be on parallel with the rest of the _Kiseki no Sedai, _Kagami-san just need to learn what his special skill is. For Kagami-san right now, just purely dunking the ball is fine. If Kagami-san is to meet a _Kiseki no Sedai _other than Kise-kun and Midorima-san, the demand for improvement will be a lot higher. Just keep on training." Kataoka analysed the situation for Seirin accurately and emotionlessly as Kagami and Kuroko stared at her grimly. Kataoka glanced at her watch.

"I will need to go now, the next time we will meet, it will be after the Seiho and Shuutoku match." Kataoka stated calmly as she stood up with her shoulder bag in tow and Kuroko stood up as well, Kagami, upon getting the message, followed.

"Have a safe trip home Kagami-san." Kuroko and Kataoka chorused when they parted with Kagami at a cross-section.

* * *

"Tetsuya-kun," Kataoka gave Kuroko a small smile, "have chosen his team well-Seirin is young but at the same time, not lacking in skill. The bonds between the team members are great, I doubt Seirin's match will ever be boring." Kataoka stated with a warm smile, the first she had shown in weeks.

"Thankyou Akiri-san." Kuroko replied curtly. The two walked past a deserted public basketball court and Kataoka quickly dragged her older cousin to it.

"There were two reasons for me to come and see Seirin: one, to see Seirin as itself and all the different things that came with it and to meet Tetsuya-kun's 'light', that was Reason One. The second reason was to see how Tetsuya-kun progressed with my homework." Kataoka smiled lightly as she tossed Kuroko a basketball as she quickly fished for her clipboard.

The pastel-blue-haired boy stood at one end of the court as he caught the ball expertly and held it firmly in his hands before he started to turn really quickly. His right arm extended turned with the body, his right hand gripping the ball perfectly in his pale hands as he spun, never once losing his balance. And then suddenly, he released the ball and it sailed along the court in a virtually straight line until it reached the opposite rings where Kataoka caught it neatly.

"Whirlwind pass." Kataoka stated with a faint smile as she quickly jotted something down on her clipboard, "That is what it is." Kuroko nodded in agreement.

"And there is one more Akiri-san, please pass me the ball head-on Akiri-san." Kuroko requested. Kataoka nodded and shortened the pace between the two of them and made a strong pass to Kuroko's chest.

The ball spun towards Kuroko, it was only about a metre away from Kuroko's chest and was steadily approaching when Kuroko suddenly striked the ball forwards with his right arm straightened. The palm of his hand hit the ball on a spin and the ball sailed powerfully to the other end of the court. This pass was a lot stronger and didn't require any sort of spinning but Kataoka could tell how taxing it was on Kuroko's stamina.

Kataoka gave Kuroko a slight smile.

"What is that pass called Tetsuya-kun?" Kataoka asked, after a few seconds of silence, Kuroko slowly answered.

"Ignite pass." He replied confidently, his tone perfectly flat as usual. Kataoka nodded approvingly as she tapped on her clipboard with the end of her ball-point pen.

"Ignite pass…" A smile was brought onto Kataoka's lips.

"I like it."

* * *

Yosh! *Stretches after typing on her bed*

Hello,

I am going super _slow_ for my chapters and they are all basically 2000 words each time. Akashi haven't made a proper appearance in what…um…two to three chapters? Anyway, I don't know. Also, I very much doubt the most of the other _Kiseki no Sedai _will make much of an appearance other than during matches. Hontou ni gomenasai. *bows multiple times*

Oh yeah, special thanks to the people who favourite and follow this story, your encouragements are very much appreciated. Obviously special thanks to the people who reviewed as well but not a lot of people reviews which is a shame…

Sorry for my grammar mistakes (which must have popped up multiple times), English is not my first language so be a bit lenient.

Really sorry for the lack of development here, I will add my romance in…later…so don't expect any Kataoka x Akashi moments soon, it is going to be super slow.

Until next time

-Soul


	12. Chapter 12: Seiho Match (Quarter Finals)

Chapter Twelve: Seiho Match (Quarter Finals)

The orange basketball whizzed above Kataoka's head as she ducked upon instinct, the ball brushing against the dark stands of her hair which flew up at Kataoka's sudden action. Unfazed, Kataoka glanced up blankly from her clipboard and saw the entire Rakuzan first-string members standing there, paralysed and with shock with the exception of the captain. The solemn Akashi had his right arm extended at shoulder-height, as if he had just made a shoulder-pass with a basketball. Kataoka knew it was Akashi who threw the ball at her head as punishment for spacing out during practice.

"S-Sei-chan…" Mibuchi stuttered, shocked at his captain's violent behaviour. Akashi ignored Mibuchi's timid response as he advanced towards the calm temporary-manager who made no reaction at Akashi's abusive action towards her.

Akashi stopped about ten centimetres away from Kataoka. The girl's chin was tilted upwards as her sapphire eyes met his heterochromatic orbs of crimson and golden hazel. All the first-string members held their breath, unconsciously crossing their fingers for their fragile-looking manager.

_Akashi wouldn't hurt a girl….right?_

A few moments of silence passed and the intimidating aura around Akashi became increasingly suffocating and suppressing for the members in the room except for Akashi himself and the raven-haired manager who blinked up at Akashi placidly.

"Focus." Akashi's sharp voice sliced cleanly through the air. Kataoka didn't blink and just nodded mutedly in response. Satisfied that he had his message sent across, Akashi picked up the basketball and resumed practice.

* * *

The grey-head Mayuzumi watched the interaction from the benches under his blank gaze. His eyes perfectly shielding his thoughts as he glanced down with new-founded curiosity at the manager. He had remembered the first time when he met her, she had an introverted and a constant on-the-watch feeling about her. Now, the aura around her changed, she seemed to have a lighter air around her, although still forbidding, the atmosphere she carried was less suppressing. He still doesn't understand what was so important about her though, Akashi had told him to watch her movements and copy her misdirection, he really doesn't know why.

* * *

Kataoka quickly pulled out her notebook and started her private studying during the free period. Her eyes scanned through her notes and her textbooks sharply as she revised for the coming-soon mid-terms. From the corner of her eye, Kataoka could see Umei sitting to the far-right of her, making sketches in her notepad. Kataoka sighed, what was the point of her tutoring Umei for free if she wasn't even going to bother studying?

Akashi sitting to the forward-right of Kataoka, was just reading a book about Wei-qi, a Chinese chess game which only used black checkers and white checkers. The goal of the game was to surround all of one's opponent's checkers and trap them. Kataoka remembered how Akashi always competed in shogi, Wei-qi and international chess tournaments around Japan and he had never lost a single match. She really doesn't understand how Akashi could always manage to score with the highest score in the year level while she was always second even though he never seemed to study. Not that scores was really one of the things she was worried about anyway. After going through her notes and feeling satisfied with it, Kataoka produced a book from her school bag hanged by her desk and started to read about the Meiji period.

* * *

The bell went, signifying the end of the free period, students immediately started to chatter as they stood up, carrying their books: there apparently was a change of classrooms for science that day. Kataoka stood up with her science books and was walking out when she saw Umei stand up holding nothing at all except for her pencil case and her sketch pad. Kataoka slightly frowned, not understanding why Umei did not carried her science books even though the next period was biology.

Umei was wearing her usual vague expression for when she was in class as she slowly approached the classroom's exit. Kataoka hurriedly advanced towards Umei, pulling the taller girl by her sleeves to halt her footsteps. Umei turned around with a lazy 'huh'.

"Umei-san," Kataoka began, she usually didn't talk to Umei that much during school, "what about the science books? We have biology for our next period."

With a 'huh' Umei turned and saw her science books all piled on her desk but none of them taken, an 'oh' escaped her mouth and she smiled sheepishly. Kataoka sighed inwardly and shooked her head.

"Right, I forgot." Umei answered dismissively as she returned to her desk and picked up her books.

"Seriously, Umei-san can be so vague sometimes." Kataoka commented with an inward smile as the two left the room for the science lab.

"Uh huh." Umei nodded.

At times Umei Hiromi can be energetic—when dealing with food, drawing, K-Pop stars, photography, designing, manga, anime and good-looking anime guys. And at other times she can be vague and blank—when dealing with school, homework, Kataoka's tutoring lessons, sport and basically her day-to-day life as itself.

* * *

"Alright, now for question 4, the formula for it is this." Kataoka explained during her tutoring period as she wrote the formula and the equation for the question down. She was unaware of the nodding Umei who had her head bowed, already asleep.

"Now please give this question a try." Kataoka pushed the notebook across the table towards Umei but the girl didn't move at all.

"Umei-san?" Kataoka poked Umei gently by the end of her pen but Umei didn't stir. Kataoka leaned down beside Umei and saw her student sleeping, she sighed.

_I guess this ends my lesson._

* * *

It was Seirin High School's basketball match against Seiho High School, one of the three Kings of the Tokyo region. Apparently, every year, the winners of Inter-High would either be Seiho, Shuutoku or Shinsenkan which were the 'Three Kings of Tokyo' and they never let anyone else take the trophy. After skipping her art class for this match in Tokyo, Kataoka found a spot above all the seated spectators and watched the entrance of the two teams with concealed curiosity.

The Seirin members entered and the crowd cheered. Dressed in their white jerseys, they still looked a little inexperienced compared to the Seiho members dressed in their black jerseys. Kataoka opened her navy clipboard and immediately began her data collecting as the two teams started to warm up.

_Ouch, _Kataoka winced as she started to compare the data she compiled during the warm-up, _Seirin will be in a pinch against Seiho. _Then her eyes darted to the tall no.1o redhead of Seirin, namely, Kagami Taiga. _But something tells me Kagami-san is going to improve a lot during this match._

* * *

Seiho was a team which utilised old martial arts moves into basketball, when they ran, the leg which moved forward was paired with the arm on the same side moving forward, thus having less stress on the body. Their martial-arts-involved-basketball gave the team virtually perfect defence with no loopholes.

Kataoka smiled to herself as her sharp sapphire eyes found Kuroko running behind players, dodging them if they are about to hit him and then suddenly appear in front of them as he slap the basketball away to one of the Seirin members. Seiho tried to block Kuroko but obviously, it was no use, Kuroko's low presence allowed him to escape from them. Kataoka watched Kuroko and his basketball partner, Kagami fist pump and smiled.

_Well done Tetsuya-kun, I am truly happy for Tetsuya-kun. To see Tetsuya-kun smiling like this…it is almost as if what happened in middle school was just a bad dream. I hope Tetsuya-kun and Kagami-san stay like this…no…I hope the entire Seirin team shall be like this…forever._

Seiho had excellent one-on-one defence which virtually shut down Seirin at the start, if not for Kuroko's passes and Seiho's deadly weakness: due to their slightly strange way of running called the Nanba Run, the direction which their body moved in was easily identified as their whole body leans to that direction before they run, this was a major weakness which the veterans of Seirin exploited at the later quarters of the match.

Seirin won the match against Seiho, 73 to 71 Seirin's way by Hyuuga-Seirin's captain and shooting guard's final three pointer shot. The cheer from the crowds was deafening as Kataoka heaved a sigh of relief as she wiped the sweat of her brow. She didn't know why she was getting so into it, considering the fact that basketball wasn't her 'thing' to begin with. She actually also didn't do anything for Seirin, her cousin Kuroko probably didn't even know that she was there and she didn't cheer for Seirin at all, she just stood behind the crowd, being a keen observer.

_I guess this is what others call the 'basketball spirit' and I am sure Seirin has plenty of those._ Kataoka thought with a smile as she fished out her pale-blue phone and sent her cousin a text message.

As Kataoka walked onto the hallways, she heard the cheers from the crowd in the Shuutoku vs. Ginbo High. Her face was expressionless as she took a quick peek at the scores: 118-38 Shuutoku's way, why was she so unsurprised?

* * *

Kuroko was sitting in the Seirin locker room as Riko the coach explained the strategies they were going to use when his white phone started to beep—announcing that he had received a text message. Kuroko flipped open the well kempt phone and his sky-blue eyes widened when he saw the sender of the message. Once Riko had finished talking and was loosening the players' muscles, Kuroko raised a hand.

"Excuse me, may I just head out for a moment?" Kuroko requested.

"Huh Kuroko-kun? Yeah sure, just be quick okay?" Riko replied, Kuroko nodded quickly before running out of the locker room.

* * *

"Akiri-san" Kuroko halted his jog as he stood face-to-face with his raven-haired cousin sitting on one of the benches outside the stadium.

"Tetsuya-kun," Kataoka stood up and lifted the plastic bag next to her with her free left hand and handed it to Kuroko.

"Congratulations on winning the match Tetsuya-kun but Shuutoku is going to be hard to beat. If Tetsuya-kun is free, please meet me here after the Shuutoku match, there is a few things I want to talk about to Tetsuya-kun. And I made some sliced honeyed lemons for Seirin as Aida-senpai's cooking skills apparently had a lot to be desired." Kataoka added with a slight smile, Kuroko opened the plastic bag and looked at the large plastic lunchbox and he could see the finely sliced yellow lemons floating in the sticky honey.

"Yes, it is true." Kuroko replied with a smile before running off.

"Delicious!" The Seirin team chorused as they bit into Kataoka's sliced honeyed lemons. Riko couldn't help but feel a bit envious at Kataoka's cooking skills. _She is my kouhai but she seem to excel at every single thing._ Riko thought with a slight smile and a sigh.

* * *

"Excuse me," Kuroko raised a hand, "may I go to the toilet?" He asked, Riko nodded and Kagami went to the toilet along with the short pale-blue-haired-boy.

As the duo entered the bathroom, they saw a high schooler in an orange jersey—the Shuutoku uniform—washing his hands by the sink. He had raven black hair with black bangs which parted in the middle and something about the air he emitted reminded Kuroko and Kagami of someone they knew. The Shuutoku player glanced up onto the mirror and stared at the short figure with sky-blue hair reflected on it.

"Oh hello Kuroko." He greeted good-naturedly although he had never really met Kuroko before.

"Hello." Kuroko greeted back as he walked past, not at all struck by the strangeness of being greeted by a complete stranger or the fact that someone was able to see him.

Kagami, the usual oblivious and boisterous redhead narrowed his eyes, _how was that guy able to see Kuroko? _Kagami thought as he watched the shorter raven-haired boy leave, his jersey number just slightly visible as he walked off: #10.

* * *

"Shin-chan!" The boy with raven black hair dressed in the orange Shuutoku jersey with number 10 on it latched himself onto the tall, stoic green-head's back as he entered the Shuutoku locker room.

A vein popped on the green-head's forehead as he adjusted his rectangular-shaped glasses sitting on his nose with his taped fingers.

"Takao, let go of me." He ordered coldly as Takao Kazunari slipped off the green-head's back and laughed teasingly, revealing the green-head's jersey number #6 as Takao sat down next to the tall green-head.

"Shin-chan, you are such a tsundere." Takao teased as another vein popped on the green-head's forehead.

"Shut up Takao," he snapped, "I am not a tsundere."

"Oi Takao, Midorima!" A blonde upperclassman with #8 on his orange jersey shouted to the two first-years. "Shut up already, the coach is going to tell us the strategies for the match against Seirin."

* * *

~Stretches on the sofa~

Hey guys sorry for the slow update, I have been pretty sluggish lately, having assignments due at school and then doing them at the last minute.

I am also really sorry for the lack of information in this chapter, I mean you may think the part about Kataoka and Umei was pretty pointless, but I am really trying to build up Umei's character as she is going to be a bit of a main in the later chapters (which is like chapter 100 at the rate I am going anyway so you guys need to wait).

I hope you guys understand Umei's personality, she was supposed to be an extremely uninteresting side character at the start and I was going to create another character as dedication to one of my friends. However, I couldn't be bothered making up another OC so I made Umei to be like this. So basically, Umei is a mix of the lead guitarist from K-On and the drummer from K-On (no I have never watched the anime before). She is quite vague, sleepy, lazy, an otaku, and quite outgoing but she also has an energetic side when it is about her friends, likes to swim (like to go 'free') and is actually quite smart.

Until then.

-Soul

P.S. Special thanks to people who have reviewed, followed and favourite this story, your encouragements are very much appreciated.


	13. Chapter 13 Shuutoku vs Seirin

Chapter Thirteen: Seirin vs. Shuutoku

Kataoka sighed tiredly as the two teams, Seirin and Shuutoku entered the stadium and the spectators cheered deafeningly. She had slept a few hours less than usual last night and it had quickly caught up to her. Kataoka flexed her sore, slim fingers and was about to jot down the information she quickly received when she decided against it. She could just ask her friend Momoi for the notes. However, Kataoka knew it was going to be a really tough battle, Seirin was going to play two matches, and both of the matches were against a King of Tokyo and not to mention Shuutoku had a Kiseki no Sedai in it's team.

For once, Kataoka decided to watch the match like a normal spectator, she sat comfortably in the chairs—which were not very comfortable at all as it was hard and plastic—and leaned forwards in her chair, hoping to get a better view of the players when her eyes slowly slid shut and she fell asleep.

Kataoka quickly woke up, the first quarter had already started and she didn't really like what she saw: there was a player with a number 10 on his white and orange jersey in Shuutoku who was guarding Kuroko and he was doing an awfully good job of it. Kataoka bit her bottom lip and fiddled with a strand of her hair as she stared at the player guarding Kuroko: _quick precise passes, skilful dribbling and incredible spatial skills, he must be_ _Takao Kazunari-san, a Shuutoku first-year. _

Kataoka narrowed her eyes when she saw the raven-head constantly blocking Kuroko from Seirin, hanging her head with resignation she realised she had underestimated him. _Takao-san has an ability that even surpasses Izuki-senpai's 'eagle eye', Takao-san has, the 'hawk eye'. But…Kuroko….you are planning something aren't you?_

However Kataoka knew that was the least of Seirin's troubles, her eyes darted to another first year, the number on his jersey was six and he had the most unusual forest-green hair. A pair of rectangular glasses rimmed black sat perfectly on his arrogant nose. He was tall and muscular and carried a cold determined air around him. Sapphire orbs gazed at him sadly as Kataoka fiddled with the sleeves of her grey school blazer.

_Midorima Shintarou, shooting guard, one of the Kiseki no Sedai of Teikou Middle School and was known for his three-pointers which was shot in amazingly high arcs which somehow, never missed._

Kataoka glanced at the Shuutoku benches and her eyes shone when she saw a wooden raccoon holding a basketball, a _shigaraki_ placed by the bench, her eyes softened, just by a bit. _Ahh…so Midorima-kun is still as Oha Asa obsessed as before huh? He haven't changed in that aspect by much._

However, like all of the Kiseki no Sedai, Midorima Shintarou, along with Kise Ryouta, Akashi Seijuurou and two other remaining members all had a bit of their personalities changed, one way or another and all of them stopped incorporating teamwork into their plays. And Midorima was no different, he had given up on the play of teamwork and would never pass. His once serious yet warm sea-green eyes had a colder sheen to it.

_May Tetsuya-kun's basketball help Midorima-kun find his old love for basketball and teamwork, please!_

* * *

Kuroko was soon able to be free from Takao's constant mark by the ignite pass he had perfected with Kataoka and Seirin began to score more freely. Midorima, who had his new skill revealed: the ability to be able to shoot three pointers all the way from one end of the court to another continuously made most of the shots for the team until Kagami who was marking him, showed Midorima his jumping skills.

Kagami's jumps became higher and higher, and Midorima found it harder and harder to score a goal. He had checked Oha Asa this morning, his horoscope, Cancer was ranked first and he would be lucky for the entire day if he brought the model of a raccoon. Aquarius, Kuroko's sign was ranked last for the day so he wasn't worried about any sort of trouble from Kuroko. However he was told that he would get a tough competition with a Leo who would be ranked second.

"Oi Kagami," The green-head with the no.6 jersey asked as he got into a positon, ready to shoot as Kagami tried to block him. "When is your birthday?" Midorima asked, determined to find out if Kagami was a Leo or not.

"Oh, 2nd of August." Kagami replied nonchalantly.

_A Leo, _Midorima thought with an 'hmph', _Oha-Asa never lies._

Kagami continued to pressure Midorima, once his fingers brushed against the ball slightly when Midorima made his shot and the ball once reached the hoop, rolled around it for a while before going in. This had never happened to Midorima before as Midorima's balls always went through the nets perfectly with a _swish_, Midorima glanced back at the fierce player behind him. _Could he have touched the ball after a shot it….?_

The crowd cheered as Kagami's block stopped Midorima's ball from scoring another three points, but the Seirin members and Kataoka could tell that something was wrong: something was wrong to Kagami. He had started to play singularly not incorporating team plays as he was the only one who could stop Midorima's shots and when a timeout was called, Kuroko had to punch Kagami to enlightened the hothead. Upon reflex, Kataoka wiped the sweat off her brows and she sat back against the cold plastic chairs with a smile, her tiredness long forgotten.

The game resumed with the Seirin members in high spirits and their usual teamwork even though they were constantly more than ten points behind. Kagami, who was only capable of jumping his super jumps twice, used it soon after the timeout and was not able to stop anymore of Midorima's shots although none of the Shuutoku members realised. However, the Shuutoku members soon knew so Midorima continued to shoot his three-pointers but Seirin was just as strong, none of the sides were giving in. Finally, the final shot was made by Hyuuga in the last six seconds in the final quarter, changing the scores to 82-81 Seirin's way.

"We did it, we won!" The Seirin members cheered by the hoop next to Hyuuga, completely forgetting that there was still three seconds left until the game finished.

"Did…we win?" Kagami muttered as he looked at the scoreboard.

"No you haven't." A certain Shuutoku member with raven-hair and a no. 10 jersey muttered as he quickly passed the ball to Midorima. Kagami, who was marking Midorima widened his eyes as the green-head caught the ball and took a stance.

"Midorima!" Kagami blurted as the green-head stared steely into Kagami's eyes.

* * *

"So tired." A tanned basketball player with royal blue hair groaned as he spun a basketball on his fingertips while lying on the wooden stage within the shaded gym. "Can't be bothered moving….I must be getting old…"

"I knew you would be here." A girl's voice echoed in the gym as she slowly approached the tanned teen.

"And you pretended to be sick so you will skip the match again?" The beautiful busty girl with long pink hair reprimanded.

"It is so boring, we will win anyways." He answered lazily.

"Oh that reminds me, Midorin and Tetsu-kun had a match today. Who do you think won?" She asked the tanned teen.

"Who knows," he answered as he changed his lying position, "both of them are strong."

"I think Tetsu-kun must've won, he was the one I fell in love with after all." The girl with long pink hair stated as she smiled.

* * *

"Let me tell you why I am determined to shoot from so far away." Midorima announced with the orange ball in hand as he glared into Kagami's dark crimson orbs and three seconds left of the match.

"It is not simply because my shots are worth three points-nanodayo."

"It is not unusual for comebacks to happen in the last seconds of a close game."

"Sometimes, they are the results of desperate shots. I will not leave it up to chance! That is why I end games with a buzzer beater."

"That is what it means to do everything humanly possible!" Midorima stated powerfully as he took the stance, about to shoot.

"This is bad!" The Seirin coach Aida Riko noticed, "he had caught Kuroko-kun and everyone by surprise!" She commented as all the Seirin members stared at Midorima with horror-stricken faces.

"Kagami-kun also can't jump anymore!"

Midorima raised, the ball at the curve of his hands, just ready to shoot, Kagami stared up at the green-head with horror as he tried to move his exhausted legs.

_We're gonna win! _Kagami thought as he stared up at the raising figure, _move legs! From the first game to this game, to the very end, you can't just get in my way! _

Grunting loudly, Kagami forced the last ounce of energy into his legs and went past his limit as he jumped up to stop Midorima's shot.

_Impossible! _Takao thought, _he should be at his limit!_

All the Shuutoku matches except Midorima stared with shock at Kagami's powerful, final jump. Kagami raised higher and higher, until he realised too late that Midorima's stance just then was a fake as the green-head lowered his body.

"I believed in you-nanodayo." Midorima stated darkly, "I believed that even at your limit, you would overcome it and jump."

"Crap!" Kagami blurted as he began to fall.

_What sort of heart does he have?! _The megane-ed Hyuuga Junpei thought, anxious and horror stricken at the green-head. _A fake with only a few seconds to go? Is this what the Kiseki no Sedai can do?_

Time ticked, it was the final second and Midorima raised his body, time seemed to freeze when a familiar, monotone voice was heard.

"I believed in him as well."

"I believed Kagami-kun would jump." There was a sound of a hand slapping against a ball within the silent stadium. Kuroko, had slapped the ball out of Midorima's hands and all the people in the stadium looked at the sky-blue-haired player with awe and shock.

Midorima's green eyes widened as he made a 'urgh' sound, "Kuroko!"

Kuroko's pale blue hair seemed to fly as he continued his explanation, "and that you, believing that, would lower the ball one more time."

The clock ticked, the remaining time turned from one to zero. This time, Seirin really did won.

Kataoka exhaled a sigh of relief, _he_ was there after all!

The buzzer for the end of the match was blown and all the Seirin members had various degrees of happiness displayed on their faces. Even Kataoka couldn't hide a grin as she watched the Seirin members really rejoice. Riko even had tears in her eyes. And now, Seirin could now enter the championships league.

* * *

The Shuutoku people though, had various degrees of shock and disappointment displayed on their faces, they have lost, meaning that they can no longer compete in Inter-High anymore. Takao approached Midorima.

"C'mon Shin-chan, let's line up."

Midorima had his eyes closed and Takao smiled ever so slightly, he could tell the tall green-head was trying to hide his shock and pain from facing defeat for the first time in three years.

* * *

"This rain is not stopping huh?" A certain blonde in his grey school uniform muttered as rain splattered against his black umbrella. He was deep in thought: he and his senpai had just finished watching the Shuutoku vs Seirin match.

_I guess that means that Kurokocchi will be playing against Aominecchi soon in the championships league…_

"Oi Kise!" Kasamatsu growled as he turned around, "Hurry up!"

"Yes Kasamatsu-senpai!" Kise hurried his footsteps to match his captain's walking pace.

* * *

"Tetsuya-kun?" Kataoka called through her pale-blue phone and she heard her cousin mumble a reply.

"Congratulations on winning, Midorima-kun, although the pain of the loss was strong, I believe he will probably return to the person he used to be three years ago soon. Today is raining so I will talk to Tetsuya-kun next time. I just wanted to tell Tetsuya-kun that I feel that soon Tetsuya-kun may need to answer some of the questions Tetsuya-kun owe to the members of Seirin…especially Kagami-san." Kuroko blinked before murmured a quiet 'thanks' and Kataoka hung up.

Kuroko then glanced at his surroundings where his senpai and Kagami were all frozen at their seats due to playing two matches in one day. Kagami was a lot worst, he could barely move and they decided to do paper-scissors-rock to see who would carry him to the nearest restaurant to refuel their energy.

* * *

The green-haired teenage tilted his head up towards the rain, his expression placid, his mind frozen as he lost himself to that moment, he could feel liquid droplets rolling of his cheeks, whether they were tears or raindrops, he didn't know.

Suddenly, a beeping sound was emitted from his phone, the teen did not notice and was only when it beeped for the third time that he picked it out from his pocket. He flipped opened the phone and answered it after reading the name flashing on his screen.

_Momoi…._

"Yes?" Midorima asked seriously.

"Ah Midorin!" Midorima immediately recoiled and placed his phone within arm-length from his ear, the feminine voice which greeted him was way too loud.

"It is so good to talk to you again!" The feminine, high voice chirped loudly from the other side of the line.

"How was the game? Did you lose? Which was it? Tell me-" The female voice asked irritatingly through the green phone. Midorima ended the call immediately, he really didn't need someone like Momoi to call him when he was feeling particularly down.

His green phone soon beeped again, 'Momoi' once again flashed on the screen. With a sigh Midorima answered the call, again.

"What is wrong with you? Enough alread-" Midorima was going to complain when he was immediately interrupted by a lazy, masculine voice.

"You sound grouchy Midorima." The voice stated lazily, Midorima paused for a minute.

"I know. You lost, didn't you?" The lazy, masculine voice continued.

"Aomine?" Midorima spoke with a slight questioning tone before continuing, "I did. You should be careful in the championships league."

The navy-haired teen—Aomine-smirked, "What?" he asked lazily in monotone, "What're you saying? Gross."

Midorima stayed silent on the other side of the line, waiting for Aomine's constant line.

"The only person who can beat me, is me." Aomine announced arrogantly.

"You haven't changed Aomine." Midorima spoke placidly into his green phone after a moment of silence.

"Don't you understand?" Midorima continued, "You'll be playing against Kuroko in the championships league."

Once again Aomine smirked as he ruffled his navy locks.

"You seem confused Midorima." Aomine observed, "The past is irrelevant. We're enemies now."

"I'm hanging up." Aomine announced nonchalantly once the other side of the line became silent.

"Sure." Midorima answered. The pink-haired girl, Momoi, upon hearing this, ran up to the tanned teen with navy locks and pulled her pink phone down from his hand so a bit of her voice would carry more volume.

"Midorin!" She called cheerfully, "Sorry to bother you while you're sad!" She spoke with a slightly apologetic tone while gushing.

Midorima could feel a vein pop at his forehead.

"Cheer up!" The pink-head continued before her navy-haired friend got annoyed.

"Shut up!" Aomine shouted to her as Midorima hung up abruptly.

Midorima snapped his phone closed and looked away at somewhere distant.

_Aomine…_

* * *

Yosh! ~Stretches on bed~

Sorry, was this chapter too long?

I wasn't planning to waste an entire chapter on a match most of you guys probably watched but I just got caught in the final seconds and yeah…

Also, when I was re-watching the episodes, I was straining my ears for every nanodayo, so if you guys are complaining that there wasn't enough nanodayo, this was all I heard.

And most of the conversations there, I copied every single line there off the net as I didn't want to rely on my memory.

I will really pick up my pace now, the next chapter will be the Touou match. (Which will be shortened as no writer like to write about their favourite characters losing)

Also, did anyone know that KnB is now officially finished? I read the final chapter 275 and I cried, my life is also now officially over. T.T

Oh yeah, and thanks to all the people who follow, favourite and comment on this story, although I do admit there hasn't been much reviews recently. Favourites and follows also went down so I guess I really need to up my pace otherwise my story will sink into the dust of the FanFicition bookshelves.

-Soul


	14. Chapter 14 Aomine Daiki

Chapter Fourteen: Aomine Daiki

**~Nervous laugh~ **

**Minna-san, hontou ni gomenasai! ~bows~ Demo….I wasn't really sure if any of you guys were actually reading it and waiting for it as none of you guys are leaving reviews.**

**So EXTREMELY sorry for the late update, I never thought I would be the sort of person who would update really slowly but lately I have been going extremely easy on myself. I suddenly got really lax recently (perhaps it was the holidays) but I promise you, it was something pretty important.**

**So anyway, here you have it, the Touou match. Personally, I didn't want to write about it as no.1 Kuroko loses in this and a lot of complicated stuff happens and yeah….and two…I kinda lost my love for KnB ~slapped~ well….the anime is finished and I finished the manga and not to mention, I haven't been on this fanfic for ages. ~Continued to get slapped~**

**So you guys, write reviews or comments okay? I haven't noticed it before but reviews really help motivate writers to continue writing. So write reviews, even for some writer as mediocre and inexperienced as me need motivation…ne?**

**Actually, since I haven't wrote in a while, this chapter will be pretty rusty…..**

**Yeah, yeah, I will shut up, for once and let the story take over….**

* * *

Momoi brushed her silky pink hair back over her shoulder as she looked up at her childhood friend whom she called 'Dai-chan' sleeping on the roof during his basketball practice session.

"Mou…" Momoi pouted, her slightly dissed yet still cute expression only displayed mild annoyance compared to the emotions she felt deep down.

The dark-skinned teen turned his head to another side—Momoi didn't really see the use of it-the pink-haired-girl's perspective of him was still not any better than before or any worst.

"What Satsuki?" his arrogant and lazy voice rolled out as he closed his eyes against the warm afternoon sun and spoke her first name.

"That Imayoshi bastard and the coach already told me I didn't need to attend every practice." Aomine spoke monotonously as if _that _explained _everything_. Which was not possible as even someone as bright as Momoi—as airheaded she appeared to be—still failed to understand _everything _that happened.

"Mou….." Momoi repeated as she climbed up to the ladder so she would be standing on the same level as Aomine, "Dai-chan..."

The sleeping Aomine opened one lazy, navy-blue eye and looked up at the busty and pretty pink-haired female whom he acknowledged as his bossy childhood friend. No guilt was present in his dark-blue orbs of nonchalance, _which_, Momoi noted with a sharp pain, would've been present if he was still the Dai-chan she remembered from second year of middle school.

For a second, all the words were stuck in Momoi's mouth, she knew she had to encourage Aomine back to practice, but he was already the ace, the best basketball player within Japan at the moment wasn't he? He…there was probably nothing left to encourage Aomine. Some part of him, Momoi knew, was lost forever, along with his love of basketball…

* * *

"Momoi-san." Rose-pink eyes sparkled at the sound of a long-awaited voice.

"Kiri-chan!" Momoi replied eagerly, however some part of her felt slightly dead. She could just imagine her friend, 'Kiri-chan' slightly smiling at her reply, almost as if she was really amused, yet most of her heart would be thinking about something else entirely, this much Momoi knew.

Momoi preferred to be happy or give the impression that she was happy, in some ways, she was similar to Kise but was obviously not as bad. She knew that to most people she appeared to be clingy, knaggy, annoying, bossy and fawned too much over a few of her friends and her crush. However a few others, could see through that side of her and actually talk to her properly. 'Kiri-chan' used to be like that as well until she kind of faded as well…..after the _incident_ personally, even now, Momoi doesn't know if it is an _incident_, or many _incidents. _All she knew was middle school changed something in both her and some of her close friends. One of these people was 'Kiri-chan', who, to Momoi seemed to have decided to fade completely into the backdrops of everything.

"I have not spoken to Momoi-san in a long time." Kataoka replied politely, Momoi's rose-pink eyes flickered: this talk was going to be long.

"Momoi-san, is it true Momoi-san is attending the same school as Aomine-san?" Kataoka asked. _Kiri-chan's voice seemed to have a bit of life in it_, Momoi mused as she listened to her friend's calming voice.

"Yeah, I can't just leave that stupid childhood friend of mine alone." Momoi answered with a slight sigh.

"Momoi-san have went to see Seirin properly already right?" Kataoka asked, Momoi, blinked how did Kataoka knew about her trip to the Aida Training Centre?

"Yeah…what about it Kiri-chan?" Momoi asked in her usual happy tone that was just constantly there.

"Did Momoi-san like Seirin?" Kataoka asked, Momoi furrowed her eyebrows.

"Oh…Seirin….they are not bad-" Momoi's pink orbs was suddenly cleared of the haziness, "Kiri-chan is helping Seirin?" Momoi tried to not sound incredulous but she was sure her voice betrayed her.

"Yes." Kataoka answered.

"But aren't you in Rakuzan? And I heard you are Rakuzan's manager!" Momoi's voice turned slightly shrill.

_Ouch, _Kataoka winced internally, _I had forgotten about Momoi-san's wide range of data. _

"Well…almost a manager….Akashi-san and I…actually, I have no idea what we are doing right now. Just count me as a fence-sitter at the moment." Kataoka answered monotonously.

"But Kiri-chan…to do that….you are so brave." Momoi replied with a girly gasp.

"Actually Momoi-san, I feel a bit of a traitor at the moment, I kind of called Momoi-san for some consulting. Did I call at the wrong time? Is Momoi-san busy?"

Momoi smiled as she heard the faint panic and worry that would usually be amissed by others except for Kataoka's family members and her. Even though Kataoka had such a tough ulterior which she showed to practically everyone, she actually cared a lot for others and constantly putted herself down and would become anxious every time she bothered someone. To have Kataoka consult someone other than herself and her cousin, was extremely rare, actually, it was initially that first time since Momoi met Kataoka that Kataoka was seeking Momoi's advice.

"I was going through my contacts when I saw Momoi-san's number and had a sudden impulse to dial it. Now that I have dialled Momoi-san's number, I suddenly recalled my intentions of calling Momoi-san." Kataoka explained, answering the unvoiced remark that Momoi was just going to make: 'you chose me to consult to Kiri-chan? I am so happy!'

"Oh…and yeah?"

"I am confused Momoi-san, I do not know what I am doing and what I am doing everything for. I joined Akashi-san's team, dedicated so much time to that team and I pretty much considered my role within the team as a manager…except I was not one. Akashi-san asked me many times if I wanted to be the team's manager and I refused, saying that I cannot tolerate the team…or rather one person. But actually, I am not quite sure if that is the case, people like Hayama-senpai, Mibuchi-senpai and Nebuya-senpai and all really good people and it is hard to not want to get….closer….to them and all the other members I have met. Akashi-san, he has an intimidating aura and I do feel intimidated by him but, I do not know…I just cannot seem to bring myself to hate or not tolerate him. I mean, looking back to see what he has done, I should hate him or at least dislike him, but why do I feel that he…he deserves the same chance and care that everyone deserves…why is this sense of equality washing over me?" Kataoka asked, her voice was still flat but at some words turned sharp.

Momoi felt as if Kataoka had just cut open something she had never wanted to find or open but just somehow did through her words.

"I mean…at first I disliked Akashi-san, and a small part of me still dislikes him but….Momoi-san I am so confused. I know the Akashi-san at present is a terrible person yet somehow, I just subconsciously feel remorse for him and worries for him. Everything he does, I know he did it for some drastic affect to react on his opponent so they will never have the willpower to go against him. Everything he does…is done with a cold mask but I know would've been done by the original Akashi-san with a manic sort of panic." Momoi hitched a gasp at Kataoka's words and silence descended between the two of them through their mobile devices.

"Kiri-chan, you are warming up, caring and worrying about them because that is within your nature. For you, other's pain is your pain and you feel it is your need to carry it. No matter how much one runs away, running away from one's true self is impossible, you always go back to square one. I think you were trying to hide that part ever since….I don't know really but obviously talking to Tetsu-kun and interacting with the Seirin members changed something within you." Momoi answered with a slight smile.

"Anything else Kiri-chan?" Momoi asked, she knew that this was only half of Kataoka's issues.

"Er…no, that is enough, thankyou Momoi-san." Kataoka replied smoothly, her usual flat voice now back to normal.

"Oh really?" Momoi asked in her high-pitched voice, "talk to me if you need any insulting okay Kiri-chan?" Momoi added with a wink and a smile.

"I will do that." Kataoka replied firmly yet quietly.

"Oh and Kiri-chan?" Momoi quickly stopped Kataoka from hanging up.

"Yes?"

"The next match, Seirin against Touou, I won't lose." Momoi announced proudly.

No sound came from the other side other than a faint 'uhnn', almost as if Kataoka was agreeing with her, Momoi gasped, not sure if she heard right.

"Huh? So you're saying that Touou will win?" Momoi asked incredulously, she heard her friend release a small 'hmm' meaning that she was smiling.

"Wasn't Momoi-san the one who just told me that she will win?" Kataoka asked, her tone was flat.

"Yeah….but c'mon Kiri-chan." Momoi pouted, "You're not answering my question."

After a moment, Kataoka answered the question.

"Even though any sort of miracle can happen in basketball." Kataoka spoke slowly, "but Aomine-san is still the ace of the _Kiseki no Sedai, _and Kuroko-kun is still _Phantom Sixth Man_, in fact, their skill difference barely change. Obviously with his new 'light', the situation may be slightly different but even if I were to talk about it optimistically, the chance of Kuroko-kun winning is very slim." Kataoka replied matter-of-factly.

"But…for Tetsu-kun's cousin to not have faith in him…isn't it sort of sad." Momoi asked.

"Who said I do not have faith in Kuroko-kun and his team?" Momoi could catch amusement in Kataoka's voice.

"Just because Seirin will lose to Touou _this_ match does not mean Seirin will lose in the match after the next. So Momoi-san is sadly mistaken."

A true smile was present on Momoi's face at Kataoka's simple words but then she could feel Kataoka's mouth turn into a faint scowl.

"Touou changed Aomine-san to the worst. I dislike Touou's ideology. I dislike the captain Imayoshi-san and the coach very much." Momoi's expression turned sad.

"Yeah I know, but Dai-chan won't go anywhere else."

"It is alright, I know that." Kataoka answered before quickly hanging up, not even explaining to Momoi why was she feeling like a traitor.

* * *

And Kataoka's prediction was right: Seirin truly did lose to Touou, heavily too: 112-55 and then lost the next two matches, effectively getting kicked out of the Inter-High championships.

None of the Seirin members came out of the Touou match mentally uninjured, Aomine's arrogance and Touou's strong individual plays made all the Seirin members enter a sort of slump although all of them eventually recovered. However, Kuroko and Kagami have stopped talking to each other as well as stop playing with each other, Kagami returned to the single player he was before and Kuroko's passes was becoming inaccurate.

The Seirin member's mood was lacking spirit and not moving forward hard enough, that is, until an old member returned.

* * *

Author's Note: Yo! ~Stretching on the sofa while listening to Sisters Noise for Kagaku no Railgun or something~

Anyway, hope the chappie wasn't too bad.

Really sorry for not writing sooner.

Will edit this later.

Imma just want to publish it.

Now.


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